British billionaire and showman Richard Branson has declared war on Qantas and other rival airlines with the launch of his new fleet of V Australia passenger jets to fly the Australia-US route.
The Virgin boss used a press conference in Los Angeles on Friday to announce two new routes for the airline on top of the already revealed Sydney-LA and Brisbane-LA legs.
(Photos: Branson parties at V Australia handover ceremony)
V Australia will fly between Melbourne and LA from September and a Sydney to Johannesburg route on a date yet to be set.
Branson, never one to shy away from creating a media spectacle, braved wind and rain to walk out on the wing of a new V Australia Boeing 777-300ER jet with Australian celebrities Julian McMahon, Jason Clarke, Holly Valance and Kimberley Joseph.
He then popped a bottle of champagne, spraying it on the celebrities and the Los Angeles international airport tarmac below.
"Recession?" Branson, wearing an Akubra, asked.
"What recession?
"The way to get out of recessions is try to expand out of recessions and create more jobs, bring airfares down and try to offer better quality of products."
V Australia will begin its Sydney-LA flights on February 27 and Brisbane-LA on April 8.
Qantas and United Airlines dominated the Australia-US route in recent years but V Australia and US airline giant, Delta, plan to challenge.
Airfares on the route have been slashed as each airline attempts to grab or maintain market share.
V Australia general manager Brett Godfrey said his airline was offering $A1,100 all inclusive return fares for Australians travelling to the US.
Godfrey said he expected Qantas and other competitors to slash their prices again.
"They will continue to try to undercut us," Godfrey said.
"There will be a fare war.
"Consumers are going to be the beneficiary."
Branson said the public can expect rock bottom fares if there were vacant seats on a V Australia plane prior to takeoff.
"We will never go out with an empty seat so if we have an empty seat we will slash the fare," Branson said.
The new flights to Melbourne, starting from September, will see V Australia provide an extra 1,080 seats for visitors each week, Victorian Industry and Trade Minister Martin Pakula said from the Melbourne Airport on Saturday.
"That will secure more jobs for the Victorian tourism industry as tourists and business people spend their money at hotels, restaurants and tourist facilities," he said.
He said Victorians would also welcome the opportunity to catch a direct flight to Los Angeles.
"It's very important to have direct flights. It provided great flexibility for tourists, particularly Victorians travelling to LA not needing to have to hub through Sydney," he said.
Melbourne Airport CEO Chris Woodruff said he was delighted with the announcement.
"Melbourne has the market opportunities airlines look for - we are continuing to grow even in the economic downturn, we have kept our costs down and we are continuing to invest in new capacity and the Virgin group has obviously found this very attractive," Mr Woodruff said.
AAP
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