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Passengers expecting to board Virgin Australia (Virgin Blue Holdings Limited) (ASX:VBA) planes to Abu Dhabi will instead be boarding Etihad Airways craft from February, as Virgin begins a heavy maintenance overhaul.
Fairfax newspapers say the Middle East flights will be covered by Virgin’s alliance partner for up to two months, while four of Virgin’s five Boeing 777 wide-body aircraft undergo checks.
It’s also announced it’s not going to start flying between Brisbane and Abu Dhabi anytime in 2012, despite reports it was going to start in February.
Virgin Blue Holdings Limited reported a loss of $67.8 million for the six months to June.
