Virgin Australia cancels Townsville-Melbourne direct flights

One of Australia’s biggest airlines has cancelled all of its direct flights between Townsville and Melbourne, turning the trip into a roughly five hour route through Brisbane. See why.

Townsville Airport. Picture: Evan Morgan

Australia’s second biggest carrier has cancelled direct flights between Townsville and Melbourne ‘indefinitely’, claiming the route is no longer ‘commercially sustainable’.

Virgin Australia has started emailing customers with flights booked from March 22 and beyond, telling them their bookings “may be affected by these changes”, the Townsville Bulletin has seen.

When contacted, Virgin Australia confirmed it was no longer running the flights.

“After a detailed review, we have made the difficult decision to continue suspension of the Melbourne-Townsville route indefinitely. We understand this decision will be disappointing to some guests and we sincerely apologise for any inconvenience,” the corporate affairs spokesperson said.

“Guests who had booked to travel on impacted services are being proactively contacted by Virgin Australia or their travel provider to provide alternative arrangements. Where an alternative is not suitable, guests will be offered a full refund.

“While the route is not commercially viable in the current environment, we continually reassess opportunities as circumstances change.”

Townsville to Brisbane, and Sydney flights will remain unaffected, The Bulletin understands.

Originally published as Virgin Australia cancels Townsville-Melbourne direct flights