VIRGIN AUSTRALIA: Cancels direct flights between Adelaide and Darwin.
The three-times-per-week Adelaide and Darwin route was scheduled to restart operations on 22 June this year. This was for the Top End’s popular winter tourism season. A Virgin Australia spokesperson confirmed the route was ‘indefinitely suspended’.
Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro is naturally outraged. In an interview with ABC Radio, she described the decision as “awful and unbelievable.”
Content of this Post:
Virgin defends decision to cancel Adelaide and Darwin route
Virgin says it’s raising the capacity to Darwin.
Defending the decision, a Virgin Australia spokesperson argued that their forecasting showed low demand. Cancelling the route would allow aircraft to be redeployed. This would add more flights between Darwin and eastern state capitals.
Specifically, that means adding flights from Brisbane and Melbourne. Virgin argued this would increase seat capacity through Darwin by 9% compared to June to August 2024.
Virgin Australia maintains direct flights scheduled between Melbourne and Darwin.
Qantas responds
Rival airline Qantas is maintaining its Adelaide and Darwin flights, crewed and flown by Alliance Airlines. It’s also increasing its flights to Darwin, introducing flights between Darwin and Singapore, and joining Darwin with Canberra. Once Virgin pulls out of the route, Qantas will be the only domestic airline that flies directly to Darwin from Sydney.
The Canberra flights will run between June and October, the NT’s peak tourist season.
Singapore/Darwin flights commence on 30 March 2025.
Air Asia is renewing flights between Darwin and Bali, which were suspended due to ongoing runway works at the Darwin Airport.
2PAXfly Takeout
Given its remoteness from most of Australia, Darwin really does rely on air services. Flights are expensive because of the lack of competition, and politicians argue this holds back the development of the northern capital city.
If you have never been to the Top End and visited places like Kakadu National Park, then you are missing out. Darwin offers an extraordinary landscape, Indigenous culture, and, well, a different experience than the rest of Australia.
Hi 2PAXfly
Great article and I understand were Darwin is coming from, Even us that live in Townsville .
Well it may be time to introduce ” cabotage on routes from Darwin and Townsville” as the below article. As your e magazine and other Avaition magazine write every day Syd, BNE, MEL, PTH, ADL, are getting more and more international flights ,Yes I appreciate big cities, more flights, more bums on seats. As for us the costly flight from Darwin/Townsville to the BIG city’s then fly North
Example the mind boggles below
Gert-Jan de Graaff, CEO of Brisbane Airport, welcomed the increased capacity, saying SIA is a vital link in Queensland’s air connections to Europe.
“When you think about it, 25 flights per week into Brisbane is quite incredible. That’s 2600 services in and out of BNE each year, with the potential to move 787,800 people or fill Suncorp Stadium 15 times.”
Below is an excerpt from
Australian senate report proposes Darwin cabotage trial
13.06.2019
A senate committee that spent more than 18 months investigating air services across Australia’s regions has released its final report, finding no evidence of carriers deliberately charging overly high fares, which it put down to market forces and economies of scale. But it did suggest a trial that lifts cabotage on routes from Darwin.
The trial would allow international airlines to carry domestic passengers to and from Darwin, the country’s closest international airport to Asia, a move that could lower ticket prices for the isolated city, the Australian broadcaster ABC reported.
Local councils and tourism bodies in northern Australia made submissions to the committee in favour of allowing cabotage between cities in the region such as Darwin and Broome. But Virgin Australia (VA, Brisbane International), Qantas (QF, Sydney Kingsford Smith) and trade body Airlines for Australia and New Zealand submitted against the move.
Easing cabotage restrictions on Northern Territory flights would “destabilise the local aviation market”, jeopardise local jobs and undermine safety, a Qantas spokesperson told the inquiry, adding: “You’ll see people cherrypicking certain routes, so you damage the route network and the economics of Australia’s competitive aviation sector with foreign carriers.”
In its report, the Senate Standing Committee stopped short of a formal recommendation to the national government for a trial to take place.
But it suggested that “an appropriate route would have to be selected to trial the easing of cabotage restrictions, where suitable infrastructure already exists and where government underwriting of costs would not be required. The proximity of Darwin to Asian markets and the fact that Darwin airport already receives international arrivals may make this location suitable for cabotage trials.”
It is not the first time Australia has pondered the cabotage issue. When an earlier senate enquiry in 2017 looked into opening up the domestic market to international carriers, Qantas also expressed its strong opposition, saying in a statement that the policy would “materially erode the asset profiles of Australia’s airlines, negatively impact future investments and be viewed as a risk by current and future investors
Things have to change, I sure airlines would love to drop in to Townsville/Darwin to TOP UP with passengers/ freight .You views
Keep up the good work > CABOTAGE <
Thoughtful comment. Thanks Bill. Just in case people need a reminder on what ‘cabotage’ is — here is a Wikipedia definition