Virgin Australia to begin Perth-Abu Dhabi flights

Am I reading this correctly? Between 04 Feb 2017 and 09 June 2017 there will be no VA operated flights from Australia to AUH? EY must be happy with the additional revenue they'll achieve during this 3 month gap!

You're correct re: dates. Virgin Australia is instead flying its Boeing 777-300ERs from Melbourne to LAX, but from April 4 2017.

Any word on what happens to those booked with VA on the SYD-AUH flights....assume they will bump them to the EY flight?

Any word on what happens to those booked with VA on the SYD-AUH flights....assume they will bump them to the EY flight?

On a personal note, I'm sad to see VA29/30 cancelled. I liked being able to fly premium to AUH and then economy on the shorter leg. It made the journey to Europe so much more comfortable especially for those of us who are self funded and cannot justify the spend to fly business. 

Great for Perth, maybe they are secretly considering Perth - London. Hehe

Next in the news pipeline, Perth to Mainland China with VA!

Where does the extra capacity from / at whose expense - for PER/AUH?

This is probably (from Virgin's perspective) a better use of A330s than the Transcon market, so I understand their decision. It is good to see Virgin operating more international services.

Well that is certainly an interesting development. The reduction on transcon A330 services is disappointing but good to see Virgin try something unexpected out of Perth. I hope Perth people support this service so Virgin isn't too scared to expand elsewhere

Shame that I wouldn't be able to leave to PER on this flight on Monday as I normally want to depart a European city on that particular date to keep my week in Aus normal :(

What a great move - it was obvious as a BNE-PER flyer for work that the 330 would not sustain on that route. J was always less than half full, although Y was often full. I knew it would disappear some day and this sounds like a great choice for VA. More what the 330 was designed for also.

Well, I think that has taken us all by surprise.

Well this thoroughly messes up my plans of upgrading myself and my partner to & from Abu Dhabi on my way to Berlin next year. Not sure its worth the jump across to Perth to stay on VA metal. 

Travelling via Perth is an option because Terminal 1 and Terminal 1 Domestic are located next to each other for seamless transfers. 

With the PER arrival of 23:25, will the aircraft continue onto either SYD or MEL?

The flight won't continue onto SYD/MEL. Instead passengers traveling from AUH to PER need to clear immigration, customs and transfer to the Virgin Domestic Terminal to catch a connecting flight to either Sydney or Melb.

Based on current flight schedules to the east, there wouldn't be enough time to turn the AC around. It would most likely overnight in Perth and then be first flight out in the morning.

Wouldn't it be great if they offered PE on this plane on this route!

I presume this gives a different configuration option to Etihad with VA providing economy, premium and business for the route? As Platinum member provides another option to consider with Velocity points getting to Europe :-)

Virgin don't provide PE on their A330's. So no, they won't be providing Premium Economy on this route

Hang on. Wasn't the SYD - AUH flight the one codeshared with Alitalia? Does that mean Alitalia has lost Sydney again? 

Does that mean we will get access to the Qantas International lounge in Perth as we do now with EY? Or the more predictable outcome of the SQ lounge (which begs the question that the EY metal flights will still give access to the Qantas International lounge?).

Any news of the Weekly AUH-KUL flight will still be operated by Virgin Aircraft for Etihad?

Just to clarify Etihad don't run Premium Economy on any of there aircraft, it is either a 2 class (J & Y) or a 3 class (F, J & Y). Again with variations depending on aircraft type.

Maybe NZ's promised Perth lounge will be open by then. Currently, both NZ and EY use the QF lounge but NZ a saying they plan to open something which can hopefully serve both EY and VA as well.

Won't the new pier in Perth contain a new Virgin lounge that could be used by Domestic and International? Or am I way behind the news...

The new pier opened a year or so ago. The Virgin lounge is past domestic security so not too practical. Can't imagine them ever building on in the international pier as they already operate two lounges in Perth. Interesting that I have previously left from Gate 50 to AUH and seen, behind glass, the Virgin (domestic) lounge about 30m away from me!

What's the likelihood of the 332 being refitted in economy? J is great, but Y is just bearable for a 5 hour transcon, wouldn't fancy a 10 hour PER-AUH flight...

I'd say highly unlikely given their financial woes and the fact that they've just re-done them. I do agree with you though that Y on their A333's for that long is not going to be much fun.... EY all the way!

The new Virgin terminal is open at Terminal 1 in Perth... this is also the "international" terminal, and has a Virgin lounge. So to move from an international flight to domestic, no terminal change is required... just customs clearance. 

SYD-PER-AUH-LHR

I guess with QF sniffing around the idea of commencing flights to LHR from PER with the 787, it makes sense that VA would also consider initiating flights to Europe from PER (albeit via AUH, not direct to LHR). Potentially trying to get a bit of a jump on QF there.

No more upgrades from PE to Business on SYD to AUH, no point in Velocity any more. Just as I'd got to Platinum again! What a shame. Status match anyone?

I was hoping to get VA metal from MEL/BNE/SYD in September next year. Are my options either VA via PER or EY?