EMBATTLED Virgin Australia has axed its Melbourne-Mildura route “for the foreseeable future”, delivering yet another blow to residents in Sunraysia and blindsiding local airport bosses.
Mildura Airport chief executive Trevor Willcock said he found out about Virgin’s announcement only on Wednesday through online media reports.
“We weren’t officially told by Virgin until later in the day, at 7pm,” Mr Willcock told Sunraysia Daily yesterday.
“It’s not a major surprise, but we’re obviously disappointed by the decision. Virgin had been operating here for the past 12 years.”
The strict coronavirus lockdowns had already clipped Mildura Airport’s wings in March, with 15 daily commercial flights now reduced to one a day.
A Mildura-Melbourne round trip costs about $340 – but Mr Willcock doesn’t expect a big price spike after Virgin abandoned our region.
“No, I don’t think so,” he said. “We still have Qantas and Rex operating to Mildura.”
Mr Willcock holds out hope that Virgin will return to Mildura.
“The domestic aviation recovery is going to take around 12 months, so we’d be hopeful of getting Virgin back here in the next 12 to 24 months,” Mr Willcock said.
On a brighter note, he revealed he was in talks to bring two new routes to Mildura.
He wouldn’t reveal what they are, but said: “Discussions for one are fairly advanced and the other is still in the early stages.
“I’m hoping we can have some firmer news to announce in the next to to three months.”
Apart from Mildura, Virgin announced it would scrap regional flight routes to Uluru, Albury, Tamworth, Hervey Bay, Port Macquarie and Cloncurry.
The airline is restructuring its fleet to primarily use Boeing 737 aircraft, removing smaller planes commonly flown to regional destinations.
“With the changes to simplifying our fleet and ongoing subdued customer demand, we have been required to make some adjustments to our network,” a company spokesman said.
“We will continue to review our network as travel restrictions ease and demand returns.”
Virgin said it would contact passengers with existing bookings, but those who had booked through travel agents would need to consult them about refunds or rebooking.
The sale of Virgin Australia to the US-based private-equity group Bain Capital was finalised last week. It had fallen into voluntary administration in April and has since cut hundreds of jobs.
