Where does the Virgin brand go?
In a previous post, I made mention of Virgin being courted by a few airlines as a result of their decision to investigate sale and merger possibilities. I wondered what would happen to the other Virgin branded airlines: Virgin Blue and Virgin America most especially.
It’s been announced that V Australia / Virgin Blue , the hybrid named airline has done a deal with Etihad Airways which will see both airlines offering seemless codeshare between their airlines. Etihad customers will have the opportunity to fly Virgin Blue to their final destination in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific islands. V Australia / Virgin Blue customers will be able to access Etihad flights from Australia to global destinations offered by Etihad.
Just writing that awkward V Australia / Virgin Blue moniker makes me wonder what happends to the Virgin brand in Australia in the future. Is it really worth having two different brands of which one is restricted by agreements with airlines such as Singapore? In the long run, I think not.
If Virgin Atlantic is merged or purchased by someone, I suspect we’ll be seeing the other brands seeking their own identities. Virgin Blue has great identity in Australia but virtually no where else and it isn’t exactly easy to connect it to V Australia (which is a name that I find weird at the least).
As for Virgin America? Who knows. It’s a brand that is starting to gain some cachet in the US and perhaps it will stick around. The potential for growing Virgin America as a brand in the US domestic market is huge. Virgin America can fly to Canada and Mexico under that brand and I see no reason why they’ll want to be starting trans-Atlantic or trans-Pacific routes in the next 2 decades. They may well keep it but I think they’ll also start looking for international partnerships after they’ve got a robust enough network.
I do think we may be witnessing the beginning of the end of the Virgin brand as a global name if Virgin agrees to be purchased or finds a merger partner. I doubt that we’ll see Virgin Atlantic purchase a partner and, frankly, I’m not sure there are any left in Europe that would be any kind of fit. BMI was their last, best opportunity to stand alone.
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