Former Virgin boss marks return to flying with a Pacific splash
A spokesperson for Cairns Airport said the airport was pleased “with how well it has been received in both domestic and international markets”. Meanwhile, the airline’s Oneworld membership allows Qantas to target its frequent flyers.
“Our product outperforms some of the best airlines in the world, and when people experience our long-haul flatbed aircraft with great inflight menus and amazing inflight entertainment, it is a world-class product,” Scurrah said.
The airline also connects Fijians across the country.
“That’s why we’re seeing a rapidly increasing number of business travelers connecting via Fiji to all destinations on our network.”
The airline won Skytrax’s Best Airline in Australia and the Pacific award in 2024.
Fiji Airways also flies from Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide, Canberra and Melbourne and connects to Honolulu, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Vancouver. In Asia, Fiji Airways flies to Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore.
But closer to home, Fiji Airways is critical to keeping people across the sprawling archipelago connected; Scurrah says it bears “similarity” to Rex Airlines and “to another degree” regional airline QantasLink.
Business class on a Fiji Airways A330. So can the airline expand its fleet enough for further growth?
In this case, the airline covers not only 330 islands covering 18,300 square kilometers, but also the wider Pacific region.
“There is a strong economic need for Fiji Airways to operate as we do for the prosperity of the country,” Scurrah said.
And yes, Scurrah says there are some similarities in the geography that connects regional Australia. “But like many routes in Australia that are major routes, there are arrangements with the government to make sure it works financially for the airline, and that’s the case here in Fiji.”
Any plan to expand the airline while bringing more tourists to Fiji faces challenges.
Fiji Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism Viliame Gavoka recently lamented the lack of accommodation for tourists. “When demand is high, we run out of rooms,” Gavoka said. accordingly the Fiji Times.
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There are also questions about how much Scurrah can grow Fiji’s business following extensive expansion under his predecessor Andre Viljoen. It added flights to Canberra and Noumea in 2023, increasing seat capacity by 47 percent.
Ellis Taylor, Asia Pacific editor at aviation industry monitoring service Cirium, said: “Future growth is a bit harder to see due to its relatively small fleet, which relies heavily on three types.”
The airline has 23 aircraft, including Boeing 737 Max 8s, Airbus A330s and A350s, as well as smaller turboprop aircraft for domestic use.
Taylor said Airbus’ wide-body aircraft were “perfectly suited” for medium-haul routes from Fiji to Asia and North America, while 737s were well-suited for Australia, which will remain a major source market.
“But the growth of new east coast destinations [in Australia] “It can be difficult as most of the major destinations are covered.”
A Fiji Airways A350 on the ground.
Fiji Airways is already facing “great” amount of competition“From Jetstar, Virgin Australia and Air New Zealand. Qantas will also compete in traffic to North America at the higher end of the market,” Taylor said, “whereas Fiji Airways has carved out a niche to gain a foothold in this market by targeting more price-sensitive customers.”
Profit before tax in 2023, the latest year for which figures are available stopped FJ131.81 million ($88.5 million) was achieved, with earnings of FJ$1.8 billion. In 2022, the company reported a loss of FJ$164.3 million on revenue of FJ1.06 billion.
Keeping airline finances (the finances of any airline) intact is a challenge that has become acute in the years since COVID.
Fiji Airways lounge in Nadi.
Scurrah should know this; He took over as CEO of Virgin Airlines in 2019, as the company was struggling with tons of debt and unprofitable routes.
When COVID hit in 2020, Scurrah was already dramatically affected. Virgin fleet restructuring. When US-based Bain acquired Virgin five months later, it effectively followed the roadmap laid out by Scurrah.
Scurrah believes that after Covid-19, airlines will have to be more uncompromising in protecting costs, almost restructuring balance sheets for another crisis. His takeaway from his experience at Virgin: Airlines “need to be cost leaders to stay competitive.”
Navigating a competitive market like the Pacific could be the perfect environment for Scurrah to apply the lessons learned from Virgin.
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