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The Jetstar / Virgin Australia dogfight
Disappearing subsidiaries for one, and a return-ish of widebodies for another - the dogfight continues.

A quick one this week as we look at the dogfight taking place in Australia between Jetstar and Virgin Australia. Considering Jetstar Asia made the news recently after parent Qantas announced it would be shutting down the subsidiary, the Australian version of Jetstar continues (note the missing “Asia” in the name)
Originally a response by Qantas to inroads made by then Virgin Blue, Jetstar alone has grown to match the threat. But now Virgin Australia (after a name change in 2011) is pulling an ace out of its sleeve. (In fairness, this ace didn’t quite work out as well as hoped before, so we’ll call it less of an ace, more of a solid 7.)
That new card being played by Virgin Australia is not a new card at all: widebodies.

Following a restructuring during the pandemic, Virgin Australia emerged without widebodies. No widebodies, that is, until Qatar Airways took a 25% stake in the airline.
Know what Qatar Airways has? Widebodies.
Arriving in 2025 is the return of widebodies to Virgin Australia’s schedule, this time operated by part-owner Qatar, with a bit of a catch. While operating from multiple Australian markets, the returning widebodies have one solitary destination.
You guessed it, Doha Qatar.
62 years of narrowbodies deserve a soundtrack
Of the many comments we received on our animation of the history of narrowbodies, one stuck with us. It needed a soundtrack.
So here it is. This time, with matching audio glory.
Research published this week

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