Jake Nelson

Mayor Phill Stone said the airline was “ignoring the facts of the situation” and added the business’ proposed terminal renovations would have been unfeasible.

The low-cost carrier confirmed in a statement that it has stopped selling direct flights between Darwin and Denpasar – which operate five times per week – from 9 October to 8 November, as Defence, which owns Darwin Airport, may have plans to upgrade the runway during this time.

Starting in December, the low-cost carrier will fly non-stop between Melbourne and Fiji three times per week, carrying an estimated 72,000 passengers per year. Its existing Sydney service will also be changed to three times per week from December, using the neo from October.

The carrier confirmed that the two routes are being shut down for five months following a performance review, which considered demand and forward bookings among other factors. This will allow Virgin to reallocate the aircraft and resources from these routes to services in higher demand.

Flight NC344 departed Brisbane for Moranbah on Monday morning as the inaugural service for NJE’s contract with mining giant BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA). The carrier will use de Havilland Dash 8-Q400NG aircraft in the state, with a second to be introduced to Queensland next month.

Civil Air accused the organisation responsible for managing Australia’s skies of a “constant reliance on overtime”, which it argued had led to tiredness and work/life balance issues among employees.