Virgin must lift Tasman product, says Air NZ chief
Virgin Australia has work to do in bringing its Trans-Tasman product up to scratch with that of alliance partner Air New Zealand, the Kiwi carrier’s chief executive has said.
The Australian airline has improved its domestic product but there needs to be greater consistency with Air NZ on services to New Zealand, Christopher Luxon told Travel Today.
While stressing it was “not a big problem”, passengers have noticed the difference in product and service delivery, he said.
Overall the alliance is “working very well” and producing good results, Luxon added.
“The challenge [for the alliance] is getting more product consistency. Virgin had worked incredibly hard to improve their product and service delivery within Australia and they are working hard to improve that on the Tasman as well,” he said.
“When you look at food and inflight entertainment relative to our own product, that’s somewhere we see a difference. Increasingly they are [addressing the issue] so it’s not a big problem.”
He said it was critical to the success of an alliance that both carriers offer “consistent, complimentary and similar product”.
“Occasionally passengers make a comment but it’s not like we are dealing with a vastly different product to the point the alliance doesn’t work, because it clearly does,” he said,
Luxon said Air NZ and Virgin now controls more than 50% of Trans-Tasman capacity and described yields as “good”.
“Everyone talks about a slowdown in the Australian economy but we haven’t seen that in our numbers at all. The business continues to grow steadily and I think it will for the next five years,” Luxon added.
Meanwhile, Luxon talked up its alliance with Singapore Airlines – which is still waiting approval from NZ regulators – explaining how it will expand Air NZ’s global reach.
Where the deal with Virgin extended the carrier’s reach into Australia and Cathay Pacific opened up southern China, the alliance with Singapore will open up South East Asia, Europe and China, he said.
“We are working with those partners because we can both bring something to the table,” Luxon said. “We have sales and distribution strength here in New Zealand and Australia and they have sales and marketing strengths in those other markets.”
He said Air NZ and Singapore will be “agnostic” about which airline a passenger travels on.
“While our brands are very different, there is consistency in terms of product and service,” Luxon said.
Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au
air new zealand australia christopher luxon trans-tasman alliance virginLatest News
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