Cairns is set to receive new Virgin flight routes connecting Adelaide and Perth, as well as boosted capacity on its Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney routes. 

Virgin Australia will run its return Adelaide-Cairns route four times a week from August 10, while its Perth-Cairns will also run return four times a week from June 26.

The new flight routes are expected to bring an extra 6,400 weekly visitors to the region.

Cairns-Adelaide fares will be available from $199 one-way, while Cairns-Perth will sell from $189 one-way.

Cairns Airport Chief Executive Officer Richard Barker said the services would be a great boost to the region’s economy.

“These new services by Virgin Australia will provide choice to visitors from South Australia and West Australia during the peak winter travel period,” he said.  

“[It will] mean an increase of over 6,400 seats per week.

“The team have been working incredibly hard with our airline partners to consolidate and grow key domestic routes and optimise connectivity to position Cairns as a year-round destination.”

Virgin Australia is also increasing its Brisbane-Cairns route (from 29 up to 31 return flights per week by October), Melbourne-Cairns (from eight up to 23 return flights per week by October) and Sydney-Cairns (from 10 up to 21 return flights per week by October).

Tourism Tropical North Queensland CEO Mark Olsen has also welcomed the new Virgin routes and additional seats, which he said would help meet the strong demand for the Cairns and Great Barrier Reef region.

“Cairns remains the most Googled regional destination in Australia as domestic travellers look for international holiday locations within their own country,” Mr Olsen said. 

“Whenever we see seat capacity increases, we see more visitors, and that creates more jobs in our region.”

In the last twelve months Cairns Airport has seen a “rapid recovery” of key markets and welcomed new intrastate and interstate services from the following carriers:

Sunshine Coast – Cairns (Alliance Airlines)

Canberra – Cairns (Qantas)

Townsville – Cairns (REX)

Newcastle – Cairns (Jetstar, commencing June 23)

Perth – Cairns (Virgin Australia, commencing June 26)

Adelaide – Cairns (Virgin Australia, commencing August 10)