Star Alliance courts Virgin Blue

Virgin Blue 737-800. Photo: By Rob Finlayson.

As Air New Zealand and Virgin Blue work to persuade the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to reverse its draft ruling and approve their proposed transtasman alliance (ATW Daily News, Sept. 23), speculation increased that Blue would join the Star Alliance following CEO John Borghetti’s presence at the Star CEOs' meeting in Queenstown, New Zealand on Monday.

"There's a chance for Virgin Blue to look at everything," he said. "We've got a lot on at the moment and we're evaluating everything, and I mean everything, and certainly as we go forward we'll see where that leads,” Borghetti said, noting he expects a decision “pretty quickly.” Star has had no Australian partner since the 2002 bankruptcy of Ansett.

Star Alliance CEO Jaan Albrecht told ATW that it is “lacking” in Australian membership right now. “We have to look [to Virgin]” as Australia’s “white spot,” he said. Virgin would fulfill its minimum requirements as the carrier is set to establish a business (class) model on its medium-haul fleet. Albrecht mentioned Russia and Africa when asked about where Star seeks future members.

Regarding the ANZ-Virgin Blue alliance, ANZ CEO Rob Fyfe told ATW that he sees the alliance with Virgin as a central plank to its growth strategy. Both airlines have to satisfy regulators’ concerns. Virgin is also attempting to forge alliances with ANZ and Delta Air Lines (ATW Daily News, Sept. 9). It has an interim green light to join forces with Etihad (ATW Daily News, Sept. 24).