Virgin, Qantas Engage In Battle Royale

24th Sep 2014

The archrivals are in for another round of endless battle to claim market leadership in the country with the launch of their respective upgrade program to prop up their planes and lure a substantial share in the target market.

The bone of contention, this time, is the corporate travel market, which is considered to be the most lucrative sector in the industry.

Both carriers are sprucing up the business class cabins of their respective fleet of A330 jets to attract the corporate travel market especially on routes between the east coast and Perth?the bustling capital of Western Australia.

While it will definitely increase the cost of tickets, both airlines think that business travelers won't mind at all for as long as the services on board are top-notch and world-class. Most business travelers don't really find the ticket cost an issue if they enjoy the best in-flight service on offer.

According to a recent government data, business class tickets on domestic routes have steadily climbed over the last twelve months. This despite the fierce competition between the two major rival airlines. The economy tickets, in contrast, have plummeted sharply due to weak demand in leisure travel.

John Borghetti, Virgin Australia CEO, revealed that the airline has recorded a steady increase in seats take-up in its business class. This was a surprising revelation amidst the clamping down of many companies across the country on corporate travel via domestic flights.

The airline executive said that it could only be possible through either or both of two possibilities. Firstly, there must be an increase in corporate accounts. Secondly, a steady feed from its alliance partners.

He further said that if an airline is able to win one corporate account, it brings with it the entire gang, from the President down to the casual employees who travel frequently each year.

Recently, Virgin made public new business class seats for its A330 aircraft, which it will start installing in March next year and is projected to be completed in five months.

Qantas, for its part, introduced last year its A330 aircraft sporting the new business class seats. It will start installing the new business class seats on all A330 planes by December until mid-2016.