Virgin Blue is increasing the number of flights into and out of Townsville, with North Queensland’s popularity as a tropical leisure destination proving its pulling power even more so than ever.

Some flights to and from Townsville have consistently sold out during July, prompting the low fare carrier to stick with its policy of adding more services instead of raising its fares.

From 18 September, Virgin Blue will introduce a third daily flight on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays, adding an extra 864 seats to and from the popular Queensland destination each week.

The extra flights represent a 21% increase in frequency on the route, which has been experiencing a surge in demand over recent weeks.

Virgin Blue’s Mid-week Mini-Fares between Brisbane and Townsville start from $105* one way on the net, with a Fully Flexible walk up fare of $254* which is 43% cheaper than Qantas’s walk up fare of $445 between the two cities.

Head of Communication and Strategy, David Huttner, said, “We’ve been closely monitoring our Townsville flights and we have simply been unable to keep up with demand. We have put on extra ad hoc flights where we have had aircraft availability and in recent weeks have also rearranged the aircraft flows to ensure our larger, brand new 737-800’s were flying the Brisbane-Townsville route. Still, we felt we could do more.”

The additional flight on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays will depart Brisbane at 9.55pm and arrive in Townsville at 11.50pm. The extra Townsville-Brisbane flights will depart at 9.20pm, arriving into Brisbane at 11pm.

The schedule has also been developed to provide Townsville and Thuringowa based business travellers the opportunity to fly to either Brisbane or Sydney for the day, take a client out to dinner and still fly home to sleep in their own bed.

It will also allow holidaymakers to get the last second out of their tropical getaway by enjoying that final sunset cocktail on Magnetic Island on Sunday eve and still get back to the office on Monday morning.

“The Townsville region continues to be at the forefront of the growth in domestic tourism. Queensland’s northern capital was Virgin Blue’s first regional destination and we are happy to continue supporting the town that has always given Virgin Blue a fair go” David Huttner finished.

* All fares include the passenger ticket levy, airport charges and the global security charge and are for flights booked on the Internet. $10 more by phone. Mid-week Mini-Fares are for travel on Tuesdays and Wednesdays only. Fares are subject to availability and may not be available on all flights or peak days.

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