Flight VA15 departed shortly before 3:30pm on the wet-leased Qatar Airways 777-300ER A7-BEE, a week after the launch of the first of Virgin’s restored long-haul services from Sydney on 12 June.
The service, which will operate twice per week starting in December, is in addition to the existing China Eastern services into Auckland, which include a daily non-stop to Shanghai, as well as flights to Hangzhou both non-stop and via Sydney.
The plane, VH-VZG, was operating flight QF186 from Queenstown when the aerobridge hit it as it was positioning at the gate in Brisbane, smashing the front windscreens. Passengers were able to safely disembark using air stairs.