http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/printpage/0,5942,3947415,00.html Virgin to increase main flights By Luke McIlveen and Amanda Keenan 14mar02 VIRGIN Blue plans to take over Ansett terminals in every capital city, and will consider trebling the number of flights it offers along busy routes on the eastern seaboard. Fresh from its $260 million part-sale to Patrick Corporation, the no-frills airline will challenge Qantas's dominance of the lucrative trunk routes between Melbourne and Brisbane. Virgin would increase its Sydney-to-Melbourne and Sydney-to-Brisbane flights from nine to about 30 a day, said Virgin financial adviser Warwick Negus, who brokered the deal with Chris Corrigan's Patrick Corp. "The first thing that has to be done is to build up the services to roughly the same rate as Qantas, while keeping fares down," Mr Negus said. Virgin's head of commercial operations, David Huttner, said more flights were inevitable and there had already been discussions with aircraft manufacturer Boeing about expanding the airline's fleet. Virgin chief Richard Branson says he can capture 50 per cent of the domestic aviation market within five years. Ansett's administrators, Andersen, expressed hope the Patrick deal would boost the value of Ansett's assets, but Mr Negus indicated Virgin was only interested in acquiring them as a bargain package. Virgin was expected to take up the lease of Ansett terminals at Sydney airport, but the budget airline has unveiled a broader plan to expand its terminal space. Mr Negus confirmed the terminals and other assets would be sought at prices "well below" what the Tesna consortium had been prepared to pay for them. "That's the strategy, and we're incredibly well positioned to focus on all the capital cities," Mr Negus said. "We haven't discussed figures but one thing is clear – it has to be significantly less than what Tesna was prepared to pay." The administrators are believed to have valued Sydney's Ansett terminals alone at $180 million. Virgin's David Huttner said: "I don't think we would be able to afford to pay what Ansett was paying to keep the terminals running." Andersen's Mark Mentha was more optimistic about what the deal meant for the value of Ansett's assets. "I think anything that can help the employment prospects of Ansett employees, anything that can help in relation to the prospects of the administrators selling assets at full value, is encouraging because clearly we have an enormous liability overhang. "Clearly we have wonderful assets in the Ansett terminals, and we're looking to preserve those and maximise their value." Mr Mentha said Lindsay Fox and Solomon Lew, the two businessmen behind the Tesna consortium, had a moral responsibility to the Ansett staff whose hopes of working on the revamped airline were dashed when the Tesna bid fell through. "To go through that cycle, to be taken up that mountain to fall off again, is a terrible tragedy. Unfortunately they (Mr Fox and Mr Lew) are not legally committed, but it depends on your morals."