DJ/VA PBN/VOZ Founded January 2004 (2004-01) Operating bases | PBN/VOZ BLUEBIRD/VELOCITY Ceased operations March 2015 | |
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Hubs Auckland International Airport | ||
Virgin Australia Airlines (NZ) Limited formerly Pacific Blue Airlines (NZ) Limited, was an airline based in New Zealand. It was established as the New Zealand subsidiary of Australian airline Virgin Blue (now Virgin Australia). It was a fully owned subsidiary of Virgin Australia Holdings Limited. It was renamed Virgin Australia Airlines (NZ) Ltd in December 2011 when its parent company decided to bring all its airlines under the one banner.
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It was based at Christchurch International Airport, it operated air services between New Zealand and Australia, and to the Pacific Islands. It also operated services on behalf of Virgin Samoa (formerly known as Polynesian Blue).
The airline has brought all its flying under its parent VA Air Operating Certificate. The final New Zealand registered Virgin Australia aircraft ZK-PBL finished up flying Friday 13-March-2015 as VA161 AKL-BNE, bringing a visible end to VANZ. With the withdrawal of ZK-PBL the New Zealand register connection ends after 11 years of aircraft on the New Zealand register 23/01/04 - 14/03/15.
History
The airline was established in 2003 and started operations on 29 January 2004 with a service between Christchurch and Brisbane, Australia.
As of 1 August 2007 (local date), the ICAO code was changed from PBI to PBN. This was done in consultation with air traffic controllers to prevent confusion between the letter I and the number 1 in flight plans.
On 21 August 2007, Pacific Blue announced its intention to begin domestic services in New Zealand with the first flights commencing 12 November 2007. The initial routes were Auckland–Wellington, Christchurch–Wellington and Auckland–Christchurch. Later Christchurch to Dunedin flights started.
Pacific Blue announced its roll out of Premium economy seating across its fleet from March 2010 to match that of its sister Virgin Blue. Premium Economy is the front three rows of each aircraft – fitted with a unique red leather converter seat that folds from three abreast to two abreast when used in Premium Economy configuration.
On 16 August 2010 it was announced that Pacific Blue would be withdrawing from the New Zealand domestic market, with aircraft being reallocated to tran-tasman and medium-haul routes.
The last-ever Pacific Blue domestic New Zealand service was operated on 17 October 2010, from Wellington to Auckland.
Pacific Blue was renamed Virgin Australia Airlines (NZ) Ltd in December 2011, as part of a unification of the company's holdings under a common brand.
In March 2015 the last New Zealand registered Virgin 737 ZK-PBL was withdrawn and placed on the Australian register, ending over 11 years of New Zealand AOC operations. All aircraft were distributed between Virgin Australia's domestic and international arms on the VH register.
VANZ Auckland and Christchurch based pilots and cabin crew continue to fly the same routes and some of the same aircraft under the Virgin Australia International Airlines air operator certificate.
Destinations
The airline operated scheduled passenger services between New Zealand and Australia; and to the Pacific Islands. New Zealand served airports are: Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin and Queenstown. Formerly Hamilton was served from Brisbane services ended in October 2012. International destinations served are: Brisbane, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Nadi, Port Vila, Apia, Nuku'alofa, Rarotonga and Sydney. Formerly Cairns (ex Auckland), Port Moresby, and Honiara (both ex Brisbane) were served.
Fleet
The fleet consisted of all modern Boeing 737 aircraft: