Fed: Virgin Blue offers $5 flights from Melbourne

AAP General News (Australia)
12-27-2001
Fed: Virgin Blue offers $5 flights from Melbourne

CANBERRA, Dec 27 AAP - Virgin Blue is offering five dollar flights from Melbourne to
five major cities in an attempt to stave off competition from a revamped Ansett.

A total of 10,000 midweek seats are available for purchase on the internet until Monday,
for travel between January 9 and March 27.

The one-way fares are for flights to Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Launceston and Canberra.

Virgin Blue spokesman David Huttner said the fares were to thank customers for their
support, particularly in Victoria, which has become Virgin's second largest operational
base.

However, he said it also was about ensuring the airline's position in the market.

"Suggestions recently in the press by (Lindsay) Fox that Ansett's main goal is simply
to put Virgin Blue out of business, well, you know, we wish them the best of luck in that
endeavour," he said on ABC radio.

"Everybody else has failed so far but if that's the only goal in business, they claim
to be in the spirit of competition then well, good on them."

Millionaire businessmen Lindsay Fox and Solomon Lew reached an agreement with Ansett
administrators Mark Mentha and Mark Korda to buy the failed airline's core business for
an undisclosed sum.

Tesna Pty Ltd, the Lew-Fox consortium, is due to take over ownership of Ansett Mark
II on February 2.

AAP sm/cdh

KEYWORD: VIRGIN

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