Minister congratulates Virgin Blue on more flights

24/10/02
A major boost to the airline seat capacity into Perth by Virgin Blue has been welcomed by Tourism Minister Clive Brown.

The airline today announced that it would increase its services from Sydney and Melbourne to Perth from twice to three times a day. The extra flights are due to start from Melbourne on November 21 and from Sydney on December 12. Daily flights would also be introduced from Brisbane on December 12.
"My congratulations to Virgin Blue for moving so quickly to introduce more flights to Perth, especially in time for the summer holidays," Mr Brown said.
"They will now have eight daily direct flights to Perth.
"Combined with the increased capacity Qantas is introducing with its CityFlyer services in January 2003, the Western Australian tourism industry is set for a much happier New Year.
"The Qantas CityFlyers will operate seven times a day between Sydney and Perth and eight times a day between Melbourne and Perth.
"Access to WA is a major issue for our tourism industry. We know that people in the Eastern States have WA high on their list of places that they want to visit, but air access has to be available and affordable."
Minister's office: 9222 9699