Virgin Australia realigns its airline partnership priorities on new long haul strategy: Part 2

As Virgin Australia's unique accumulation of airline shareholders on its registry evolves, some of the longer term outlines of the Australian airline's strategy are unfolding. Air New Zealand is withdrawing as an equity owner, although the future nature of its partnership with Virgin has yet to coalesce. HNA Group, with its subsidiaries Hainan Airlines and Hong Kong Airlines is now on the register, along with the Nanshan Group, while Etihad and Singapore Airlines remain as substantial minority owners.

Part 1 of this report reviewed some of these issues in the context of Virgin Australia's international route plans.

Part 2 reviews the actual changes planned, as they relate to Virgin's US and Abu Dhabi routes and sets out why a greater emphasis on US routes is desirable for the short term, while a full picture becomes available for the more risky Chinese market.