Virgin Australia has claimed strong corporate demand is behind its plan to ramp up services between Brisbane and key regional cities.
The carrier will add services to Emerald from October 29 while additional flights to Newcastle and Rockhampton will start from November 12.
Merren McArthur, group executive alliances, network and yield, said connections, as well as the number of flights, have been improved.
“Demand from the corporate and resources sectors for more flights for each of these key regional cities has been strong so we are pleased to be increasing air services linking Emerald, Newcastle and Rockhampton to Brisbane,” she said. “Not only are we providing more choice of flight times but we have adjusted schedules to provide better onward domestic and international connections beyond Brisbane.
“For example, people wanting to travel from Newcastle to Los Angeles will be able to enjoy a seamless connection onto our weekday direct service from Brisbane to LA.”
The increased schedules will see the number of flights between Brisbane and Emerald increase from three to four each weekday with Sunday services rising from two to three. A Saturday flight will be introduced for the first time.
Services will be operated by ATR-72 turboprop aircraft, adding 950 weekly seats to the route.
Between Brisbane and Newcastle, the carrier will add a third daily flight during the week with weekend frequencies remaining at two per day. It will add 100 weekly seats between the cities.
An eighth daily weekday flight will be added to Rockhampton, adding 500 seats to the route.
