[QUOTE=Berealgetreal;10475465]More like Alliance livery.
Virgin Australia takes axe to key Qld route
Robyn Ironside
May 22, 2019
Virgin Australia has wasted no time cutting back capacity, announcing Alliance Airlines will takeover two return services a week between Brisbane and Cairns.
Currently operated by Virgin Australia’s Boeing 737-800 aircraft with the capacity to seat 176 passengers including eight in business class, Alliance will use its Fokker 100s on the services, seating 100 people.
A statement from Virgin Australia said the airline remained “committed to this area of our network”.
“We will continue to provide a strong schedule proposition on this route,” the statement said.
The Alliance services will operate on Thursdays and Fridays.
A trading update released by Virgin Australia last week showed the airline was again headed for another annual loss, as a result of weaker demand, and fuel and foreign exchange headwinds. Group CEO Paul Scurrah said capacity would continue to be reviewed, with the airline already reducing the number of seats in the market by 1.5 per cent.
“There’s going to be a very, very tight look at where we’re flying and how those routes are performing,” Mr Scurrah told The Australian last week.
Data compiled by the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics showed passengers travelling between Brisbane and Cairns on all airlines, had fallen 6.6 per cent in March.
In March 2018, 106,700 passengers travelled between the two ports compared to 99,600 in March this year.
Other routes that could be under review by Virgin Australia include Brisbane-Darwin, with passengers falling 12.5 per cent in March across all airlines; and Brisbane-Hamilton Island with numbers down 8.2 per cent.
Alliance operates a number of other services for Virgin Australia including between Port Moresby and Brisbane.