Virgin Australia
airline from Australia
Virgin Australia, formerly known as Virgin Blue, is an Australian airline based in Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of two active airlines (the other being Virgin Atlantic) to use the Virgin brand, as well as the larger by fleet size. It commenced services on 31 August 2000 with two aircraft on a single route, before suddenly emerging as a major airline in Australia's domestic market after the collapse of Ansett Australia in September 2001. With the airline's business model incorporating features of both a low-cost and full-service airline, it has since grown to become Australia’s largest domestic airline by passenger market share, as of December 2024. As of June 2025, the airline serves 33 destinations across Australia with its Boeing 737 fleets, operating from its hubs in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, as well as from its secondary hubs in Adelaide and Perth. The airline also operates a limited number of short-haul international flights.
The airline's headquarters are based in South Bank, Queensland. It was co-founded by British businessman Richard Branson (the founder of Virgin Group), and former CEO Brett Godfrey.
In 2011, the airline went through a period of transformation, changing its brand to Virgin Australia. This included the introduction of a new aircraft livery, new uniforms, and new onboard menu options, as well as a business class product, which Virgin Blue did not have.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Virgin Australia” is airline from Australia. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Virgin, Australia and airline, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “airline from Australia” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q727074. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2000, 2001, 2024 and 2025.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Virgin Australia”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Virgin Australia primary sources, Virgin Australia archive and Virgin research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Virgin Australia”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Virgin Australia” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.