Virgin Blue is set to announce a partnership with Hawaiian Airlines, and has set its sights on Asian expansion."We’re in the process of having advanced discussions with Hawaiian Airlines and you will see us put out those new flights to Hawaii from Australia shortly," Virgin chief executive John Borghetti revealed at a Sydney business luncheon. Mr Borghetti said Virgin Blue’s overseas partnerships were a critical plank in its strategy to become the nation’s "airline of choice". Virgin Blue has already announced international partnerships with Etihad, Air New Zealand and Delta, which is awaiting approval by US regulators. Mr Borghetti also said a tilt at Asia was on the cards. "We’re not going to leave it alone, we are going to play in that space," he said yesterday.
Mr Borghetti said he was confident Virgin Blue would win 20 per cent of the domestic business travel market within three years and break Qantas’ near monopoly.
Virgin Blue plans to lease up to 18 turbo-prop aircraft from mid-2011, to be operated by Skywest. This will allow Virgin Blue to fly to new destinations in regional Australia currently not economical for jet operations. Mr Borghetti said the Virgin Blue Group would work to consolidate its four separate brands, Virgin Blue, V Australia, Virgin Atlantic and Pacific Blue, saying it was "confusing for customers and not very productive".