00:00Fewer options, and much longer journeys for some, as Virgin tweaks its schedule.
00:08A spokesperson explaining the move followed an internal review.
00:12As part of this review, we have made the difficult decision to indefinitely suspend our seasonal
00:17Adelaide-Darwin route based on low forecasted demand.
00:21This enables us to relocate capacity to markets where demand is higher.
00:25It's yet another slap in the face for locals.
00:28I think it's really bad because we travel a lot and most people in Darwin have family
00:33down south.
00:34The cost of flights is through the roof anyway.
00:36Yeah, I just think it's a little bit disappointing.
00:40The Chief Minister, equally disappointed.
00:42Awful, just unbelievable, and this is a big part of why we have to rebuild the economy.
00:48We need to grow our population, we need more business happening here, and these airlines
00:53need to be held accountable to what they're doing to regional Australia.
00:56But it might not be bad news for everyone.
00:58The Territory's Tourism Authority says that Virgin's promise to provide more direct flights
01:03to Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth is a welcome change.
01:07We really do hope that they are going to focus on building capacity on the other sectors,
01:13so the Brisbane and Melbourne sectors, there's definitely demand there, and it would be fantastic
01:20to see them restart the Sydney to Darwin flights.
01:24But if you're coming from, or going to, Adelaide, Jetstar and Qantas are the only airlines offering
01:30direct flights during the dry season.
01:32So for those travellers, it's back to monopoly.
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