‘Awful and unbelievable’: Virgin cans direct flights between Darwin and Adelaide

Virgin Australia has scrapped one of its direct flight routes between two Aussie states ahead of one’s peak tourism season, in a move branded “awful and unbelievable”.

Virgin has ditched direct flights between Darwin and Adelaide ahead of the Northern Territory’s peak tourism season – in a move that has been branded as “awful and unbelievable”.

The route, slated to return from June this year, was set to include three return flights per week during peak season, according to the ABC.

However a Virgin Australia spokesperson confirmed the decision was made “based on low forecasted demand”.

“We have made some adjustments to our schedule following a review of our network for the Northern Summer 2025 season (April to October 2025),” the spokesperson said.

Virgin Australia has scrapped its direct flights between Adelaide and Darwin, citing ‘low forecasted demand’ as their reason. Picture: NewsWire / James Gourley

“As part of this review, we have made the difficult decision to indefinitely suspend our seasonal Adelaide-Darwin route based on low forecasted demand.

“While we understand this will be disappointing for some guests, this enables us to reallocate capacity to markets where demand is higher.”

The changes are set to come into effect from June 22, giving guests booked on the flights about six months notice to make alternate arrangements.

The spokesperson said the decision would “increase seat capacity through Darwin” by about six per cent compared to the same April to October period last year.

The move has been slammed as “awful” and “unbelievable” by the Northern Territory’s Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

More flights were set to be scheduled on the Brisbane-Darwin and Melbourne-Darwin routes during June to August this year, the spokesperson said.

“Virgin Australia’s overall Northern Territory capacity will increase by approximately three per cent compared to the Northern Summer 2024 season driven by seasonal increase on Darwin routes as well as our recently launched Uluru services,” the spokesperson said.

Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro told ABC Radio Darwin on Tuesday the decision was “awful and unbelievable”.

“We need to grow our population, we need more business happening here,” Ms Finocchiaro said.

“And these airlines need to be held accountable for what they’re doing to regional Australia.”

Originally published as ‘Awful and unbelievable’: Virgin cans direct flights between Darwin and Adelaide