Virgin upgrade a class war on Qantas Andrew Cleary 29 August 2011 Australian Financial Review (Abstracts)
"Qantas Airways chief executive Alan Joyce has reason to be nervous about Virgin Australia?s push into the corporate travel market, with Virgin chief John Borghetti announcing he had secured deals with Rio Tinto, Optus and Leighton Holdings. Procurement officers at ASX 100 companies will be looking for value for money, an expansive route network and a competitive frequent flyer program. Travel businesses such as American Express believe Virgin?s ticket prices will come down this year as it makes a play for market share that was gifted to Qantas after Ansett collapsed. Justin Montgomery is heading the VIP overhaul at Virgin. While the Qantas Frequent Flyer program is still the heavyweight, a relaunch of the Virgin Velocity scheme has seen the addition of Westfield?s online mall, but not a link with Coles. UBS noted that Virgin?s cash liquidity to revenue ratio was 10 per cent last year, compared with Qantas? minimum 18 per cent target."
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