FARES TO THE REEF TAKE A DIVE VIRGIN BLUE’S FIRST CAIRNS FLIGHT TOUCHES DOWN

Virgin Blue’s inaugural flight DJ 855 from Brisbane touched down in Cairns this morning bringing to The North renewed airline competition, low fares and service style second to none.

The launch flight heralds Virgin Blue’s official entry in to the Far North Queensland market, further cementing Virgin Blue’s commitment to its home state and signalling a new era of air travel for the people of Cairns.

Members of the Virgin Blue Management team stepped off the brand new Next Generation Boeing 737-700 aircraft fully dressed in scuba diving gear, complete with flippers and goggles, highlighting the great tourism appeal of Cairns and reaffirming competition will bring back the low fares that existed prior to the Compass collapse.

Spokesperson, Amanda Bolger, said, “It’s clear that with only one airline in the local market over the past few months, the people of Cairns and tourism in general has suffered. Cairns’ locals know what a boost Compass offered tourism and the community and Virgin Blue with its modern aircraft, everyday low fares and genuinely friendly service, has every intention of bringing that spirit back.”

Virgin Blue will initially operate one flight a day, increasing its special holiday schedule to two direct services a day from December 20.

From February 4, Virgin Blue will adapt its twice-daily schedule to provide for a leisure flight as well as a morning Cairns departure and evening Cairns arrival to suit the Tropical North based business traveller, who has long been slugged with high airfares.

She continued, “You can get a Fully Flexible booking on Virgin Blue at the last minute and the most you will pay is $339* one way, compared to the Qantas Fully Flexible fare of over $500 one way. It’s not just the people who book in advance that want a good deal, business people don’t want to be ripped off either.”

Virgin Blue today launched a summer sale with one-way fares from $129*, 24%less than Qantas’s lowest fare of $165 one way.

The Virgin Blue sale starts at midnight tonight and goes until December 21 and bookings can be made for travel between December 1 and February 28.

Virgin Blue has worked closely with the Cairns Port Authority and Tourism Tropical North Queensland with both organisations working hard to enthusiastically welcome Virgin Blue.

Today’s Cairns launch is the first of 5 new routes to be introduced in the next 4 weeks, with the new Melbourne-Canberra service to begin tomorrow, flights to Perth kick off on December 9, Gold Coast-Melbourne service starts December 13, while Virgin Blue will begin direct services between Brisbane and Darwin from December 20.

The growth plan is in line with Virgin Blue’s accelerated expansion in response to the gap left by Ansett Mark 1.

Virgin Blue, Australia’s only true low fare airline, will be servicing every state and territory by Christmas, with its fleet of brand new Next Generation Boeing 737 aircraft.

* “Bookings on the web, excluding Ansett passenger ticket levy, airport charges and the global security charge”