V Australia has announced services to Johannesburg and Phuket.

The flight will be in time for the FIFA World Cup starting in June 2010. The route will compete with the Qantas service which operates six times weekly on the Sydney-Johannesburg route (B747-400) and South African Airways (SAA) which offers a five times weekly Johannesburg-Perth service.

V Australia will launch twice weekly Brisbane-Phuket service from 22-Nov-2009, previously passengers would have to connect over Sydney (with Jetstar) or Bangkok (Qantas / Thai Airways). V Australia will also launch once weekly Melbourne-Phuket service on 03-Dec-2009.

Virgin Blue Airlines Group Chief Executive, Brett Godfrey, stated, "we believe our new destinations offer very exciting opportunities." The airline is set to take delivery of its fourth B777-300ER aircraft shortly, which will offer a three-class configuration.