Jake Nelson

In its submission to the inquiry on regional airfares, Virgin – which previously served regional routes with a fleet of ATR 72 turboprops – said the commission “should assess competition viability at a granular, route-specific level rather than relying solely on the number of operators present”.

P2-PGB touched down in Cairns as flight PX90 at 11:20am on Friday, having previously operated only on Air Niugini’s domestic network within Papua New Guinea. The Cairns–Port Moresby route has previously been operated by a mix of Fokker 70 and 100 planes, as well as 737-800s.

The 737 MAX 8, VH-8VI “Lake Centenary”, is Virgin’s 16th aircraft in the 737 MAX family, and the 100th 737 in its current fleet. Virgin is expecting 12 MAX 8s to join the fleet in 2026, as well as four Embraer E190-E2s for Virgin Australia Regional Airlines, the first having arrived last year.

Between mid-April and late July, the Flying Kangaroo will switch its Paris flights from Perth to operate from Sydney via Singapore, adding two extra services per week and allowing 60 extra customers per flight, while Perth–Rome will fly daily and Perth–Singapore 10 times per week.

At a press conference this week, the Tourism and Transport Forum and Australian Airports Association said the full digitisation of the incoming passenger system could be achieved for around $25 million, funded through the passenger movement charge (PMC).

Located on the corner of Airport Drive and Francis Briggs Road and open to the public, the site will have 24 charging bays with 150kW and 300kW chargers, as well as two accessible bays, a bathroom, a canopy, and drive-through bays for larger vehicles.