This morning I was on DJ361 from Melbourne to Hobart that was caught by the fog. From looking at the Melbourne Airport website it appears we were to be the first domestic flight into MEL this morning. On what I think was final approach, we diverted to Avalon (where we sat for two hours before flying back to Tullamarine). The flight crew were wonderful and it wasn't as traumatic as it sounds.
My question is this: were we the first DJ flight ever to fly into Avalon? We were joined ten minutes after we landed by DJ601 (from Launceston).
It was interesting as it took the ground staff a little while to find some steps for the 737. Flight from Avalon to Tullamarine took fifteen minutes from take off to landing (which surprised me - I thought it would be shorter).
We weren't allowed to disembark and remained on the aircraft until we go to Melbourne.
Any thoughts on this?
Has the arrival of JetStar into Avalon provided Virgin with a closer diversion point?
(an unintended bonus for Virgin?)