Join me for another one of my flight reviews as today we review Virgin Australia’s short-haul international Trans-Tasman economy class service between Queenstown and Sydney on their stalwart Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
Virgin Australia pre-covid operated an extensive Trans-Tasman network between Australia’s eastern seaboard and New Zealand which rivalled competitors Qantas, Air New Zealand and Jetstar however the airline’s return to New Zealand has been slow and cautious and still in 2023 they only operate New Zealand flights into and out of the southern island ski resort town of Queenstown with a return to other key cities such as Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington still failing to come to fruition.
With such a limited presence in the New Zealand and short haul international market itself compared to its competitors in this review I seek to showcase the full Virgin Australia short-haul economy class experience which has changed somewhat, if albeit which has been scaled back in post-covid 2023. Surprisingly it was quite a quiet flight and at check in was offered a free upgrade to an Economy X exit row seat which I will offer my thoughts on as well in terms of the hard product although understandably I wasn’t extended the other soft benefits of the product such as priority boarding.
I also my offer my thoughts on the airline’s attempts to offer a middle ground offering between full service and budget carrier experience in the Trans-Tasman flight market and what they need to do to establish themselves as a competitive alternative. Meanwhile the review also seek to highlight the magnificent views of Queenstown Airport itself both from the tarmac and on departure and again as we descend into Sydney later in the flight!
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