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Virgin Australia Airlines (NZ)

Virgin Australia (NZ)
IATA ICAO Callsign
DJ/VA PBN/VOZ BLUEBIRD/VELOCITY
Founded January 2004 (2004-01)
Ceased operations March 2015
Operating bases 2
Hubs Auckland International Airport
Secondary hubs Christchurch International Airport
Focus cities Brisbane, Wellington, Apia
Frequent-flyer program Velocity Rewards
Alliance Air New Zealand
Fleet size 10
Destinations 16
Company slogan Now You're Flying
Parent company Virgin Australia Holdings
Headquarters Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand
Key people
Website virginaustralia.com

Virgin Australia Airlines (NZ) Limited formerly Pacific Blue Airlines (NZ) Limited, was an airline based in New Zealand. It was established as the New Zealand subsidiary of Australian airline Virgin Blue (now Virgin Australia). It was a fully owned subsidiary of Virgin Australia Holdings. It was renamed Virgin Australia Airlines (NZ) Ltd in December 2011 when its parent company decided to bring all its airlines under the one banner.

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

The airline has brought all its flying under its parent VA Air Operating Certificate. The final New Zealand registered Virgin Australia aircraft ZK-PBL finished up flying 13 March 2015 as VA161 AKL-BNE, bringing a visible end to VANZ. With the withdrawal of ZK-PBL the New Zealand register connection ends after 11 years of aircraft on the New Zealand register 23/01/04 to 14/03/15.

The airline was established in 2003 and started operations on 29 January 2004 with a service between Christchurch and Brisbane, Australia.

On 1 August 2007, 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 with the first flights commencing 12 November 2007. The initial routes were AucklandWellington, 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.


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