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Virgin ditches NZ after losing millions

Virgin Blue will cease flying within New Zealand and redeploy aircraft to short-haul international destinations after chalking up losses in the tens of millions of dollars across the Tasman over the last three years. The airline announced the first phase of its network review today, which includes redeploying its 737 aircraft which have been used to fly domestic New Zealand services to trans-Tasman and South Pacific routes. The decision to pull Pacific Blue out of New Zealand has been tipped for more than 18 months, especially after Jetstar replaced its parent, Qantas, on domestic routes there last year. Virgin Blue's CE John Borghetti said there was no end in sight to Pacific Blue losing money in New Zealand because three airlines were competing for travellers in a country of just 4m people. Borghetti declined to reveal the accumulated losses from its New Zealand-based operations but said they had been in the tens of millions of dollars since it began there about three years ago. Borghetti also insisted that Virgin Blue’s planned tie-up with Air NZ on trans-Tasman services had nothing to do with its decision to pull out of New Zealand.

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http://www.smh.com.au/business/virgi...816-125uv.html