Virgin Australia's new business class takes off

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Virgin Australia's new business class takes off

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Six trial flights and countless hours of training and preparation have concluded with the successful launch of Virgin Australia's inaugural Airbus A330 flight from Sydney to Perth.

DJ553 touched down in the West Australian capital shortly after 1130 AWST, marking Virgin's first wide-bodied domestic service and debut of the carrier's business class.

Virgin group executive of commercial Liz Savage said it was a thrilling day for the airline, given the all the work that had been done to get the service up and running.

One of Virgin Australia's new A330 wide-body aircraft.

One of Virgin Australia's new A330 wide-body aircraft.

"I'm very pleased with the way it has gone," Ms Savage said as the flight began its descent into Perth.

Virgin's A330 pushed back from gate 40 at Sydney's Terminal 2 at about 0825 local time, carrying roughly 175 passengers and with it the first serious alternative at the premium end of a plane since Ansett collapsed in 2001.

The 27 business class seats are, apart from the front row, configured in a 2-3-2 configuration, with each offering about 62-inch (155-centimetre) seat pitch, inflight entertainment and a full meal service.

It was also the first flight where the airline used priority tags for check-in baggage, a Virgin Australia spokesperson said.

Australia's number two carrier will operate its A330 Sydney-Perth service once a day initially, before ramping up to thrice daily by July.

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Business class was being introduced gradually on the airline's Boeing 737 fleet.

Ms Savage said using the A330s on the longer transcontinental routes was a "product led" decision.

"We really that think the widebody, as we call these aircraft, with the layout, the configuration within the aircraft lends itself to the business class product we want to offer, which you can see around you today," Ms Savage said.

"The other obvious thing is really gives us more capacity on the peak flights out of Sydney and Perth."

Ms Savage said bookings for the A330 service had been good.

"We are absolutely on track and where we wanted to be at this point," Ms Savage said.

Ms Savage said the airline wanted to capture a larger share of the business market from Qantas but hoped to grow the leisure end of the market to support the extra capacity being added.

A new fare structure announced this week and new on-board offering, coupled with the mining and resources boom, would all contribute to demand for flights to and from Western Australia, Ms Savage said.

When the service ramped up to three times daily, Virgin would have more than 33,000 seats each week between Sydney and Perth, the airline said.

Virgin first flagged the flights in August last year, which initiated a response from number one carrier Qantas Airways.

The Flying Kangaroo said in February it would add extra wide-bodied services on the Perth route, including a Boeing 747 service once a day from Sydney.

Virgin hopes, through changes to its on-board and on-the-ground product, to double its 10 per cent share of the corporate travel market, which is dominated by Qantas.

Virgin has taken delivery of two A330s, flown previously by Dubai-headquartered Emirates Airways.

The airline is due to take delivery of another two A330s, fresh off the Airbus production line in Tolouse, France.

Virgin was expected to use its A330s on flights from Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney to Perth in what it dubs its "coast-to-coast" service, although chief executive John Borghetti has hinted at flying those aircraft to Asia at some future point.

The reporter travelled to Perth as a guest of Virgin Australia.

AAP

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