Pacific Blue Airlines

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Pacific Blue Airlines
IATA
DJ		 ICAO
PBN		 Callsign
BLUEBIRD
Founded 2003
Ceased operations 2011
Hubs Brisbane International Airport
Christchurch International Airport
Secondary hubs Auckland Airport
Frequent-flyer program Velocity Rewards
Fleet size 17
Destinations 15
Company slogan Now You're Flying
Parent company Virgin Blue Holdings Limited
Headquarters Christchurch, New Zealand
Key people
Website www.virginaustralia.com
A Pacific Blue 737-800 at Auckland Airport
Polynesian Blue 737-800 ZK-PBF at Wellington International Airport, March 2008. In addition to international services to and from Apia for Polynesian Blue, this aircraft is used on all of Pacific Blue's other routes

Pacific Blue Airlines was an airline based in New Zealand. It was established as the New Zealand subsidiary of Australian airline Virgin Blue. It was renamed Virgin Australia Airlines (NZ) in December 2011.[1]

Based at Christchurch International Airport,[2] it operates air services between New Zealand and Australia, and to the Pacific Islands. It also operates services on behalf of Virgin Samoa (formerly known as Polynesian Blue).

History

The airline was established in 2003 and started operations in January 2004 with a service between Christchurch and Brisbane, Australia.

As of 1 August 2007 (local date), the ICAO code was changed from PBI to PBN. This was done in consultation with air traffic controllers to prevent confusion between the letter I and the number 1 in flight plans.

On 21 August 2007, Pacific Blue announced its intention to begin domestic services in New Zealand[3] with the first flights commencing 12 November 2007. The initial routes were Auckland–Wellington, Christchurch–Wellington and Auckland–Christchurch. Later Christchurch to Dunedin flights started.

Pacific Blue announced its roll out of Premium economy seating across its fleet from March 2010 to match that of its sister Virgin Blue. Premium Economy is the front three rows of each aircraft – fitted with a unique red leather converter seat that folds from three abreast to two abreast when used in Premium Economy configuration.

On 16 August 2010 it was announced that Pacific Blue would be withdrawing from the New Zealand domestic market, with aircraft being reallocated to tran-tasman and medium-haul routes.[4]

The last-ever Pacific Blue domestic New Zealand service was operated on 17 October 2010, from Wellington to Auckland.

Pacific Blue was renamed Virgin Australia Airlines (NZ) in December 2011. The aircraft are to be rebranded throughout the first half of 2012.

Destinations

See also: Virgin Australia destinations

Virgin Australia (NZ) operates scheduled passenger services between New Zealand and Australia; and to the Pacific Islands.[5] New Zealand served cities: Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin and Queenstown.

Fleet

Virgin Australia (NZ)'s fleet consists of:

Fleet
Aircraft Total Passengers
(Economy)
Boeing 737-800 10
180

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Virgin Australia rebrands its Pacific carriers". New Zealand Herald. 8 December 2011. 
  2. ↑ "World Airline Directory." Flight International. 30 March-5 April 2004. "Virgin Blue" 50.
  3. ↑ Pacific Blue Begins New Domestic Services In New Zealand
  4. ↑ "THE VIRGIN BLUE GROUP OF AIRLINES ANNOUNCES FIRST PHASE OF NETWORK REVIEW" (Press release). Virgin Blue Holdings Limited. 16 August 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-16. 
  5. ↑ Pacific Blue Route Map

External links

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