KICK A GOAL BETWEEN MELBOURNE AND ADELAIDE FLY TO THE FOOTY WITH FLEXIBLE $89 FARES

Virgin Blue Airlines has announced plans to launch direct services between Melbourne and Adelaide, giving loyal footy fans in Victoria and South Australia a low fare opportunity to support their home team at away games, with $89 fares that don’t have the cumbersome restrictions of the other airlines.

To celebrate the impending launch of the route and the opening of the AFL season this weekend, anyone booking over the internet for travel until midnight Saturday March 31, will be encouraged to fill in an on-line entry form to win a VIP trip for themselves and a friend to barrack for their home team at an away game in the respective state capitals.

The Melbourne winner and friend will be flown to Adelaide and provided with accommodation, dinner and tickets to the game. The same applies for the lucky South Australian winner.

Virgin Blue will begin with three return flights a day, with more to follow later in the year.

Concurrent with the May launch, the airline will also ramp up frequency on its Melbourne-Brisbane service to six direct flights a day and up to four direct daily flights between Sydney and Adelaide, providing business travellers with more flights to suit their busy schedules.

The decision to close the gap between Melbourne and Adelaide was made following strong public demand for Virgin Blue to begin offering its flexible low fares and unique service on the overpriced route.

Chief Executive, Brett Godfrey said, “We’ve had tremendous support to date from both South Australian and Victorian travellers and they have made it clear they want affordable flying to more destinations. Until now, it cost more to fly between Adelaide and Melbourne, than from either city to Brisbane. People had no choice but to go by car or rail. We believe airfares from $89 one way will change the way people travel”.

He continued, “Both Adelaide and Melbourne are great cities when it comes to footy, food, fashion, wine, culture and rest and relaxation. We are hopeful once again that bringing fares down to a fair level will mean more people will travel between the two destinations whether it be to visit friends and family, enjoy a winery weekend, go to the theatre, do business or barrack for their favourite footy team”.

Virgin Blue has kept its commitment to create a second focus city in Adelaide and the airline is hopeful that commitment will be met with enthusiastic support.

For Melbourne, it’s another destination option that comes with a promise to look at more new routes in and out of the Victorian capital.