Virgin Australia takes on Qantas with more flight deals

Virgin Australia is taking on Qantas with a bold new campaign promising to ‘Bring on Wonderful’. See the best flight deals on offer.

Virgin Australia is out to challenge Qantas for dominance of the skies, launching a new campaign on Sunday promising a ‘Wonderful’ experience for customers at every step of their journey.

The campaign includes flight deals and special promotions, but it lobs at the end of a difficult year for the aviation sector. In its most recent report, the ACCC found half of all airline flights arrived late in June – a worst-ever result – while 6.4 per cent of flights were cancelled.

The ACCC noted criticism was “most predominantly directed towards Qantas” and there has been speculation Virgin could make a lasting gain in market share as a result.

Virgin Australia will today launch a new campaign promising a ‘Wonderful’ experience for customers.

Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka told News Corp bad weather and staff absenteeism had caused delays, but there had been no issues with other operations, including call centres, check-in counters, lounges and baggage delivery.

“All the other elements of the experience worked as they should during these peak periods,” Ms Hrdlicka said.

“Our competitor didn’t have the same experience, but we felt proud of the fact that we had done a lot of work over the last couple of years to get those parts of the business in good form and they performed well when the demand came back,” she said.

Virgin Australia is promising a ‘Wonderful’ experience for customers in its new campaign.

A Virgin spokesman said the airline had achieved “significant improvements” in operational performance with on-time performance stable and cancellation rates back to pre-pandemic levels.

In September the on-time departure rate was 66.7 per cent, up from 51.1 per cent in July, the spokesman said. Mishandled baggage rates were at 2.3 incidents per thousand items in September, compared to six per thousand for a major competitor, the spokesman added.

Aviation industry analyst Tony O’Connor said Virgin “has a real opportunity” to build a 30 to 40 per cent market share position “if it makes a major effort”.

“Building trust and status in the travel market doesn’t come cheaply. They’ll need excellent staff and training, and a few months of runs on the board regarding service,” Mr O’Connor said.

Jayne Hrdlicka, CEO of Virgin Australia. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

“They’re setting the bar high. I imagine their financial backers are investing upfront for the market share pay-off. If Virgin has good funding, there’s no reason why they won’t deliver.”

Mr O’Connor said many middle managers in the business sector were re-evaluating their choice of airline.

“But the travellers want Qantas due to their frequent flyer points,” he said.

“And senior managers want Qantas due to their Chairman’s Lounge membership. Have a think about the real cost of the Chairman’s Lounge. It’s a very expensive glass of pinot grigio.”

Originally published as Virgin Australia takes on Qantas with more flight deals