Territory holiday flights bonanza in hope to get more people here for Christmas

QANTAS and Jetstar will have more flights to Darwin and Alice Springs from Melbourne in December’s lead up to Christmas if COVID restrictions continue to ease.

Jetstar will offer more flights to the Territory in the lead-up to Christmas

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QANTAS and Jetstar will have more flights to Darwin and Alice Springs from Melbourne in December’s lead-up to Christmas if COVID-19 restrictions continue to ease.

A spokesman for Qantas said the airline had published December and January holiday season fares in the expectation that Melbourne’s tight COVID-19 restrictions would be lifted.

Victoria has now gone more than a week without recording a coronavirus case. The state recorded its eighth straight day of zero new coronavirus cases and no deaths on Saturday, as Victorians prepared for a further easing of restrictions on Sunday.

The 14-day rolling average for metropolitan Melbourne remains well below the safe threshold of five, falling to 0.9.

The Qantas spokesman said the airline had upped the number of December services on sale, compared to November, on the back of the improving COVID-19 situation.

Both Jetstar and Qantas are offering a large assortment of flights to Darwin, ranging from direct services to others on routes through other cities.

Tourism and Hospitality Minister Natasha Fyles said the Territory opened its borders to regional Victoria earlier this week, and the hope is that jurisdiction based travel restrictions will allow for easy domestic travel in time to see loved ones by Christmas – “if it is safe to do so”.

“It’s been a tough year for many people, and it is promising to see the scheduling of flights from Victoria to the Territory leading into Christmas,” Ms Fyles said. “There is, however, no better time to explore our own back yard here in the Northern Territory.”

Ms Fyles pointed to the array of stimulus packages on offer that were supporting Territory jobs and offering discounted opportunities to enjoy the NT.

“With the Territory Tourism Voucher and the NT’s domestic tourism campaign – the NT Summer Sale – that is accessible to Territorians, there is no better time to explore the NT,” Ms Fyles said.

Melbourne expat Beth Caird was thrilled at the prospect of being able to go home for Christmas: “I haven’t seen my family since January 7th.

“It feels like a relief to be able to plan to reconnect after so long,” she said.