New routes from Perth and Adelaide announced by Virgin Australia yesterday will reinforce the region’s position as Australia’s top destination for travellers in Australia. The new services will provide more choice for visitors from South Australia and Western Australia during the peak winter period and beyond.
Additional services were also announced yesterday with Virgin Australia committing to additional capacity on Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney routes.
Cairns Airport Chief Executive Officer Richard Barker said he welcomed the new services with Cairns now Australia’s top destination for travellers.
“These new services by Virgin Australia will provide choice to visitors from South Australia and West Australia during the peak winter travel period and mean an increase of over 6,400 seats per week.
“The team have been working incredibly hard with our airline partners to consolidate and grow key domestic routes and optimise connectivity to position Cairns as a year-round destination.”
“With international borders remaining closed Mr Barker said these services would be a great boost to the region’s economy. TTNQ has played a major role in supporting these routes and this collaboration has been important in driving visitation to Tropical North Queensland.
Tourism Tropical North Queensland CEO Mark Olsen welcomed the new Virgin routes and additional seats which he said would help meet the strong demand for the Cairns and Great Barrier Reef region.
“Cairns remains the most Googled regional destination in Australia as domestic travellers look for international holiday locations within their own country.
“Whenever we see seat capacity increases, we see more visitors, and that creates more jobs in our region” Mr Olsen said.
Over the last twelve months Cairns Airport has seen a rapid recovery of key markets and welcomed new intrastate and intestate services from the following carriers:
- Sunshine Coast – Cairns (Alliance Airlines)
- Canberra – Cairns (Qantas)
- Townsville – Cairns (REX)
- Newcastle – Cairns (Jetstar commencing June 23)
- Perth – Cairns (Virgin Australia commencing June 26)
- Adelaide – Cairns (Virgin Australia commencing August 10)