Brisbane lockdown lift, half-price flights fuel record Virgin bookings

Virgin Australia has reported its biggest sales rush in history, with Queensland destinations emerging as major beneficiaries.

Virgin Australia has reported the biggest sales rush in the airline’s history, as tens of thousands of Aussie travellers snap up cheap flights.

The Federal Government’s half-price-flight initiative, coupled with the lifting of Brisbane’s lockdown, have combined to create a huge surge in airfare sales for Virgin, with more domestic bookings than at any other time in its 20-year history.

The top four routes in the bookings blitz of more than 70,000 customers all included Queensland destinations, with Melbourne-Gold Coast the most popular route followed by Gold Coast-Sydney and Sunshine Coast-Melbourne.

Sydney-Cairns was the fourth most popular.

While many of the flights were for travellers keen to book last-minute getaways for Easter, about 85 per cent of the bookings were for travel from May onwards.

In the space of a few hours after Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced that the Brisbane lockdown would end at midday yesterday, accommodation bookings and searches for Queensland destinations on Wotif.com soared.

Searches for the Whitsundays and Sunshine Coast skyrocketed 80 per cent, while the Fraser Coast experienced a 75 per cent jump compared to last week.

Diving on the Great Barrier Reef is back on the agenda for Easter holiday makers. Pic: Tourism Tropical North Queensland

Diving on the Great Barrier Reef is back on the agenda for Easter holiday makers. Pic: Tourism Tropical North Queensland

The Gold Coast (40 per cent) and Cairns (30 per cent) also saw significant increases which should give renewed heart to tourism operators who had been dreading an extended lockdown over Easter.

There was also a 45 per cent jump in activity for Brisbane residents following the announcement on the end of the lockdown.

Again, it was the Whitsundays and Sunshine Coast leading demand.