Virgin Australia will today take its inaugural flight from Sydney to Darwin with commercial guests on board.

The direct service will be operated by a Boeing 737-800 aircraft named ‘Mindil Beach’; after Darwin’s iconic beach and will depart Sydney at 9.40am local time, arriving in at Darwin at 1.50pm local time.

Virgin Australia Group Executive of Alliances, Network and Yield, Merren McArthur said: “We are excited to bring competition to the Sydney-Darwin route with our new daily service between the two capital cities.

“Darwin is an important commercial hub and is also the gateway to the Northern Territory’s popular leisure destinations. Virgin Australia will be able to meet this demand by offering excellent service, great value fares and a frequency of 56 flights per week between the East Coast and Darwin.
“Travellers on this route also have the option of our new Business Class product and will soon be able to enjoy our new Lounge at Darwin Airport, due to open in 2013.
“Silk Air, the full service subsidiary of our alliance partner Singapore Airlines, has recently commenced a service from Darwin to Singapore that operates four times per week. Together, we are now able to offer visitors from Singapore, Asia and Europe the opportunity to visit the Northern Territory and then travel on to Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne or Perth.

“We are working closely with Tourism NT to promote the new service and will soon launch an innovative joint marketing campaign across print, digital and outdoor in Sydney, complemented by campaigns in the Brisbane and Melbourne markets”, Ms McArthur said.

The new daily Sydney-Darwin service also includes a direct return flight, which departs Darwin at 2.40pm, arriving in Sydney at 7.25pm.
Blue Holidays, the holiday program of Virgin Australia is also offering a range of deals to Darwin including return airfares & 3 night’s accommodation from $506pp*.