Dubbo: Virgin Australia has partnered with Link Airways, 90 flight routes across state

A major airline has partnered with a regional airline to provide more services to regional NSW. Here’s what it means.

The Link Airways flights from Brisbane and Melbourne to Dubbo will continue.

Travellers in regional towns across the state will obtain access to additional routes, following an announcement from a major airline.

Virgin Australia and Link Airways announced a new codeshare partnership, bringing 17 new regional codeshare services to the state and more than 90 services per week.

Link Airways chief executive officer Andrew Major said the agreement will “provide significant additional travel opportunities to passengers Australia-wide, particularly those in regional areas”.

“Benefits will include better connectivity and more choice for regional customers thanks to Virgin Australia’s expansive route network,” Mr Major said.

For Dubbo residents, the partnership will mean Virgin Australia Velocity members will be eligible to use their points when flying to Melbourne or Brisbane.

Link Airways and Virgin Australia have collaborated to increase their regional footprint. Photo: Supplied.

Dubbo Regional Council mayor Mathew Dickerson said that while Dubbo do not get additional flights, it is a good start for a better relationship with the airline.

“It’s a good starting point so Virgin then get more exposure in Dubbo and get exposure to what the flights are doing and how many people are on those flights,” Mr Dickerson said.

Dubbo Regional Airport. Photo: Dubbo.

“At the moment they do four return flights a week to those locations so they might want to increase those flights – I think even though it’s not that exciting on day one, it’s a good relationship to have long term.”

The airline’s strategy and transformation officer Alistair Hartley said the network would be offering 42 domestic destinations, including flights to Inverell and Wollongong which were not supported by other commercial airlines.

Ten of the flights will be from Brisbane, two from Sydney, three from Melbourne and two from Canberra.

The services will operate from March.