VIRGIN Australia has rejected a litany of claims made in a new submission by a consumer to the International Air Services Commission (IASC) in relation to the draft allocation of the new Tokyo Haneda slots (TD 22 Oct).
The submission, from someone named Amy Tomoe who says she lives in Canberra and travels to Japan about three times a year, is vehemently opposed to Virgin being granted the rights.
Tomoe claims Virgin Australia has a “terrible track record with international flights, with a number of routes failing after less than two years of service,” and suggests the airline only applied for the Haneda slot “to prevent Qantas from getting it”.
She cites the limited number of VA long-haul aircraft, and notes that both JAL and ANA each have a slot for new Haneda-Australia flights under the new allocation.
Virgin Australia’s Lee-Anne Tomkins has responded, saying she believes Tomoe does not provide any new arguments and in particular does not give any regard to competition matters.
“We are an established international carrier, and it is important to mention that while we have exited some international routes in the past, this is no different to Qantas… which has changed its route network over the years.”
Tomkins said VA was working assiduously behind the scenes to prepare for the launch of the flights by the 29 Mar deadline.
MEANWHILE the IASC is also inviting applications for capacity on the Singapore and Cook Island routes, after receiving a request for renewal of existing allocations from Qantas.
On the Singapore route where QF is exercising “own stopover rights” between Singapore and Colombo, the airline wants to use the capacity for either Qantas or Jetstar, and to provide services jointly with SriLankan Airlines.
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Source: traveldaily