Virgin still eyeing NZ after deal

Virgin Blue has reaffirmed its interest in the New Zealand market after its deal with Patrick Corp.

Having an Australian partner should clear the way for Virgin Blue to fly unhindered across the Tasman under the CER trade agreement.

Virgin Blue chief executive Brett Godfrey said his airline would focus on domestic growth for the rest of the calendar year, but it would look at the trans-Tasman market if an opportunity arose.

That was backed by Virgin Blue's commercial head David Huttner who said his airline had never given up hopes of flying to NZ within a year.

"We were always looking at a go-it-alone approach before and now we think this clears one of the hurdles that was potentially out there, which was this idea of whether we were really an Australian-owned company or not. Any doubts about that were completely alleviated today."

Mr Huttner said Virgin was continuing its talks with Air New Zealand about a possible "feeder traffic" arrangement.

But he could not rule out coming into New Zealand alone. "It probably won't be for the ski season but maybe we can play Santa Claus."

- NZPA

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