Centralian Advocate - Friday, August 13, 2004
Virgin scraps Sydney flights
Discount carrier turns eyes south to Adelaide
by Gavin King
Virgin Blue has scrapped its Alice Springs to Sydney service and replaced it with four flights a week to Adelaide.
The Sydney service will end from November with the Adelaide route to begin on October 31.
Virgin Blue head of strategy and communications David Huttner yesterday said the Sydney route was losing a significant amount of money.
Mr Huttner said: "To run the aircraft for three and a half hours with all of the increased fuel and air services costs meant that the low fare formula just wasn't cutting it.
"We looked at a number of options for the Sydney route but Adelaide offers a lot more flexibility.
Mr Huttner said: "It was something that a lot of people asked about when I was in Alice a few weeks ago."
Mr Huttner warned last month that Virgin Blue would scale back its Sydney to Alice route if passenger loads did not increase.
But the move to cancel the Sydney route has shocked the Central Australian Tourism Industry Association.
General manager Craig Catchlove said the airline ruled out removing the service in a meeting in Alice Springs last month.
Mr Catchlove said: "Less than three weeks ago we were told by Virgin Blue that they were not considering pulling out of the route.
"We were told the worst case scenario was a change to services in the off-peak season.
"This announcement has come totally out of the blue."
Mr Catchlove said the Adelaide route was welcomed and passengers who would normally fly direct from Sydney would now be diverted through Adelaide.
Passengers booked on Sydney flights from November will be offered alternative flights or a full refund.
Virgin will offer discounted Adelaide fares during November to celebrate the new route.
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It shall be interesting to see the letters column on Tuesday. The residents weren't happy when this first came up a few weeks back...
edited 'cos my fingers were being dyslexic. D'oh!