Australia’s Virgin Blue has announced that its new international wing, V Australia, will begin service in Dec. 2008 with a daily direct flight between Sydney and Los Angeles. The new carrier will be the first Australian entry to challenge Qantas’ lock on the trans-Pacific route. Until now, United is the only other airline offering direct daily trans-Pacific service connecting the two countries.

V Australia will launch with three classes of service: economy, Premium Economy, and Business Class, and the carrier promises its “in-flight products and services benchmark favorably against all competitors.” Business Class seats are said to become fully flat, horizontal beds of 77 inches; Premium Economy seats will be 20 inches wide with no less than 39 inches of legroom.

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As for pricing, Virgin’s Chairman Sir Richard Branson states, “There is going to be very fierce competition ... and fares will definitely drop quite dramatically across this route.”

There are probably some sour faces around the Qantas boardroom these days, and rightfully so. You can count on Virgin’s arrival in a market to stir up competition, and there are few routes, if any, with less competition than those to Australia. United’s lesser stake in the market might be in even greater jeopardy. (V Australia’s connection partner in the US, by the way, is Northwest.)

Who wins? Just about anybody flying “down under” for business or pleasure beginning in mid-December. Just how much Sir Richard and company plan to shake up the Qantas/United stronghold on the Sydney-Los Angeles route remains to be seen. Look for much more coverage in upcoming issues of First Class Flyer.

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