Pacific Blue Airlines

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Pacific Blue Airlines
PacificBlue1.jpg
IATA
DJ
ICAO
PBN
Callsign
BLUEBIRD
Founded 2003
Hubs Brisbane International Airport
Christchurch International Airport
Secondary hubs Auckland Airport
Wellington International Airport
Frequent flyer program Velocity Rewards
Fleet size 9
Destinations 15
Company slogan Pay a Visit, Not a Fortune
Parent company Virgin Blue Holdings Limited
Headquarters Christchurch, New Zealand
Key people Adrian Hamilton-Manns
Website http://www.flypacificblue.com
A Pacific Blue 737-8FE at Auckland Airport
Polynesian Blue 737-8FE ZK-PBF at Wellington International Airport, March 2008. In addition to international services to and from Apia for Polynesian Blue, this aircraft is used on all of Pacific Blue's other routes

Pacific Blue is the New Zealand based subsidiary of Australian airline Virgin Blue. Based in Christchurch, it currently operates low-fare air services within New Zealand, between New Zealand and Australia, and Australia to south Asia. It also operates services on behalf of Polynesian Blue. Pacific Blue's Australian hub is at Brisbane Airport and its New Zealand bases are Christchurch Airport and Auckland Airport.[1]

Contents

[edit] History

The airline was established in 2003 and started operations in January 2004 with a service between Christchurch and Brisbane, Australia. Pacific Blue also operated Wellington to Sydney for three months, but this service was cancelled in favour of services to Brisbane.

As of the first flight of 1 August 2007 (local date), the ICAO was changed from PBI to PBN. This was done in consultation with air traffic controllers to prevent confusion between the letter I and the number 1 in flight plans.

On 21 August 2007, Pacific Blue announced its intention to begin domestic services in New Zealand[2] with the first flights scheduled to operate early November. The initial routes were AucklandWellington, Christchurch–Wellington and Auckland–Christchurch.

Pacific Blue launched domestic services in New Zealand on November 12, 2007. The services are operated by a fleet of Boeing 737-800 aircraft painted in the Pacific Blue livery with New Zealand aircraft registration. In addition to Pacific Blue's fleet, there are Australian registered aircraft painted in Pacific Blue livery operating for parent airline Virgin Blue.

[edit] Destinations

As of July 2009, Pacific Blue operates scheduled passenger within New Zealand, and flights to Australia, Asia and the Pacific[3]. Some Pacifc Blue routes are currently flown by Virgin Blue mainline aircraft under a wetlease arrangement[4]

Awards

Pacific Blue came 8th in the 2009 Jack Airline Awards

[edit] Fleet

Pacific Blue's fleet consists of the following aircraft as of July 2009:

Fleet
Aircraft Total Passengers
(Economy)
Routes Notes
Boeing 737-800 9
180 International, Domestic New Zealand and Australia ZK-PBF in Polynesian Blue livery

[5]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] External links