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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
National
Gerard Cockburn

Virgin Australia relaunches Canberra-Sydney flights

Virgin flights between Canberra and Sydney will relaunch soon. Picture: Dion Georgopoulos

The nation's second-largest airline will reignite flights between the harbour city and the bush capital, marking an end to disrupted travel on the major route.

Virgin Australia in conjunction with Link Airways will restart 53 flights a week between Sydney and Canberra, with the resumption set to boost 16,250 additional seats a month on the busy travel corridor.

Virgin Australia first axed the flights in April last year at the beginning of the pandemic, which sparked the major airline to enter voluntarily administration.

Its return to the route is in part to an anticipated return to corporate travel largely driven by business with the government.

The flights are slated to begin on January 30 next year and will use Link's Saab 340B Plus aircraft and crew.

The joint arrangement is designed to use smaller aircraft to better service capacity needs rather than Virgin's larger Boeing 737-800 fleet.

On weekdays, nine flights will operate per day with tickets understood to start from $149 each way for economy.

Virgin Australia chief Jayne Hrdlicka flagged Canberra remained a vital port in its operating schedule, with customers able to accrue Velocity points and experience a new food and drinks menu in its airport lounge.

"Virgin Australia is always looking for new ways to connect Australians and today's announcement is a really great example of how we are working strategically to benefit our customers," Ms Hrdlicka said.

"The service will provide more than 16,000 seats each month between the two cities, which is welcome news for our corporate and leisure customers and particularly those in the government sector who regularly travel to and from Sydney."

Canberra Airport head of aviation Michael Thomson said the easing of restrictions has seen a surge in flights and more people travelling to the capital.

"We are confident that flights and passengers will continue to increase in 2022," he said.

"Canberra tourism and business are ready to welcome back travelers to the Capital and Canberrans are ready to recommence their travel plans."

Since September Virgin has announced 15 new services.

Link Airways chief executive Andrew Webb said: "The frequency of the services offered is a strong indication of the value Virgin Australia places in facilitating connections between Canberra and interstate destinations".

Airfares will be available for purchase through Virgin's website.

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