Virgin Blue Flies 20Million Guests Major Milestone

Virgin Blue Flies 20 Million Guests Major Milestone For Low Fare Leader

Virgin Blue, the parent company of New Zealand ‘s newest airline Pacific Blue, marked another significant milestone when it recently welcomed on board its 20-millionth Guest, doubling its passenger numbers in a third of the time it took to clock-up its 10-millionth Guest in 2003.

Businessman Miladin Prvulovic was the lucky, and very surprised, 20-millionth Guest who was showered with gifts and champagne as he boarded a direct flight from Melbourne to the Gold Coast yesterday.

Since it launched into Australian skies on 31 August 2000, Virgin Blue has travelled more than 175 million kilometres throughout Australia, equivalent to circumnavigating the earth 4300 times.

This latest achievement further cements the airline’s role as a solid long-term player in the domestic aviation industry, with the airline expecting to carry around one million Guests over the month of April alone.

Virgin Blue Chief Executive Brett Godfrey said, “When you consider it took Virgin Blue nearly two years to celebrate 5-million Guests, ten months to carry the second 5-million and less than 12 months to carry another 10-million people, it’s a pretty remarkable milestone for an airline that hasn’t yet reached its fourth birthday.”

It has been a busy start to the year for Virgin Blue which launched its New Zealand based airline Pacific Blue in January. Initially flying a daily direct service from Christchurch to Brisbane, the airline has expanded its services to include daily flights between Christchurch-Sydney and Melbourne and also Wellington-Sydney.

“We are very fortunate to be one of the few airlines expanding in the current fiercely competitive global climate and we will remain committed to our high quality, low fare model as we continue to grow our network across the country and overseas”, Brett Godfrey finished.

Virgin Blue’s 20-millionth Guest received a celebratory show-bag including flight vouchers, 12 month Blue Room membership, champagne, cap, beer cooler, playing cards and Dreamworld passes.

FAST ‘VIRGIN BLUE/PACIFIC BLUE’ FACTS

April 2001 Today

Aircraft in fleet 6 44

Total Guests Carried since start up 641,113 20 million

Staff Numbers 609 3257

No. of flight routes 5 41

No. of chocolate bars purchased in-flight to date 323, 000

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