Virgin Australia Airlines (NZ)

"Pacific Blue Airlines" redirects here. Not to be confused with Air Pacific (disambiguation), California Pacific Airlines, Canadian Pacific Air Lines, Cathay Pacific, Cebu Pacific, Jetstar Pacific Airlines, Pacific Air Lines, Pan Pacific Airlines, Pacific Southwest Airlines, Pacific Western Airlines, or Western Pacific Airlines.
Virgin Australia (NZ)
IATA ICAO Call sign
DJ PBN BLUEBIRD
Founded2003 (2003)[1]
Commenced operations29 January 2004 (2004-01-29)
Ceased operationsJune 2020 (2020-06)
HubsAuckland
Secondary hubsChristchurch
Focus cities
Frequent-flyer programVelocity Rewards
AllianceAir New Zealand (formerly)
Fleet size10
Destinations16
Parent companyVirgin Australia Holdings
HeadquartersChristchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand
Key people
Websitevirginaustralia.com
The former livery of a Pacific Blue Boeing 737-800 at Auckland Airport in 2005

Virgin Australia Airlines (NZ) Limited formerly Pacific Blue Airlines (NZ) Limited,[1] was an airline based in New Zealand. It was established as the New Zealand subsidiary of Australian airline Virgin Blue (now Virgin Australia). It was a fully owned subsidiary of Virgin Australia Holdings. It was renamed Virgin Australia Airlines (NZ) Ltd in December 2011 when its parent company decided to bring all its airlines under the one banner.[2]

It was based at Christchurch and Auckland[3] and operated air services between New Zealand and Australia as well as the Pacific Islands. It also operated services on behalf of Virgin Samoa (formerly known as Polynesian Blue).

The airline has brought all its flying under its parent VA Air Operating Certificate. The final New Zealand registered Pacific Blue aircraft ZK-PBL finished up flying 13 March 2015 as VA161 AKL-BNE, bringing a visible end to Pacific Blue and being renamed to Virgin Australia NZ (VANZ). With the withdrawal of ZK-PBL, the New Zealand register connection ended after 11 years of aircraft on the New Zealand register from January 23, 2004, to March 14, 2015.[4]

  1. ^ a b "VIRGIN AUSTRALIA AIRLINES (NZ) LIMITED ARBN 107 549 851". connectonline.asic.gov.au. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  2. ^ "Virgin Australia rebrands its Pacific carriers". New Zealand Herald. 8 December 2011. Archived from the original on 12 November 2014. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  3. ^ "World Airline Directory." Flight International. 30 March-5 April 2004. "Virgin Blue" 50 Archived 24 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ^ Buchanan, Craig (14 March 2015). "VA(NZ) the (visible) end". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2015.