Virgin Airlines have no plans to match Qantas in offering subsidised fares to North West Queenslanders and have refused to deny they gouge local travellers to subsidise routes on the coast.
That’s the conclusion we’ve drawn from a waffly answer the company gave to five questions put by The North West Star.
A “Virgin Australia spokesperson” told us in in an email response said they supported strong competition in Australian aviation and they do their best to ensure their airfares are competitive.
“Airfares on any given route are driven by a combination of factors, including demand, competitive activity, time of booking, seasonality, operating costs, and airport pricing and taxes,” the spokesperson said.
“Virgin Australia is committed to providing competitive airfares on flights within Queensland and we also regularly run sales on regional Queensland airfares.”
“We always encourage guests to book as early as possible to access the cheapest fares available and subscribe to our airfare specials at https://specials.virginaustralia.com/”
However the spokesperson did not directly answer any of the questions we put to them.
1) Does the airline have any plan to come up with a residents scheme for NW Qld similar to Qantas
2) If not, why not?
3) Does the airline accept that regional airfares to destinations like Mount Isa are overpriced compared to similar routes on the coast and rural and remote people are subsidising cheaper flights elsewhere?
4) What if anything does Virgin propose to do about it?
5) One of my readers was needing a one way flight from BNE to Cloncurry on Wed 1 and for the 10.10am flight the best price they could find was $1002, which is more expensive than some overseas holiday. - why is this so expensive?
While Virgin Airlines refuse to do anything, the pressure is still on Qantas.
Cloncurry resident Hamish Griffin told Qantas Facebook page “this price gouging is out of control.... we need to take action”. “People of (North West Qld).... One voice is not loud enough, please help,” he said.
“Qantas want 4.5k for two adults and 1 child to fly from Cloncurry to Townsville next weekend... a week in advance...not because of a shortage of availability because I searched for nine seats, the maximum available to book on line and the cost per seat was the same and came to 14.5k.”
“How long is this going to be allowed to happen?”
Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
