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Virgin back to Red Centre
TRAVELCONSUMERDAILY.COM VIRGIN BLUE will use its 104-seat Embraer regional jets to launch daily services to Australia’s Red Centre – but not to Alice Springs, which the carrier withdrew from in 2005 because of high airport costs. Virgin Blue will fly to Ayers Rock/Uluru from Monday, August 2, the first new airline to challenge the Qantas monopoly at one of Australia’s tourism icons. Uluru is part of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. The Federal Environment Department earlier this year announced that a controversial proposal to ban climbing of Uluru by tourists would not go ahead for at least the next 10 years, even though some local traditional owners have "asked" tourists to refrain from climbing The Rock. Ayer’s Rock airport is owned by Voyager Hotels and Resorts, a company that operates tourism properties at Ayers Rock that is separate from NT Airports, which operates both Alice Springs and Darwin airports. Virgin Blue has not disclosed the terms it has reached with Ayers Rock airport. The new Virgin Blue Sydney-Ayers Rock service will leave Sydney daily at 10.10am, taking 3 hours 40 minutes for the flight. The return three-hour flight will leave the Rock at 2pm. "The timing is right for us to launch a new route as we take delivery of a new (Embraer) E-Jet later this year and we looked at a number of options before deciding Ayers Rock (Uluru) was the ideal destination to commit our new resources to," says Virgin Blue chief executive Brett Godfrey. "The decision reflects our view regarding the importance of Ayers Rock (Uluru) to the tourism industry and indeed to visitors from our own backyard, as well as from all over the world, who flock to the rock each year to marvel at the natural landmark. "We expect to find the only airline currently operating on the route will see fit to suddenly offer more reasonable fares." The new route is the first new leisure destination launched by the airline for a number of years. Its recent domestic expansion in Australia has focused on services for the mining industry and other business users to Karratha, Port Hedland, and Newman in Western Australia. Virgin Blue has a launch fare of $149 one way, excluding credit card fees, with everyday fares starting from $199* one way for Sydney-Ayers Rock. Virgin Blue began flying from Sydney to Alice Springs daily soon after its founding in 2000. In 2004, it axed the loss-making service, blaming high airport costs, replacing it with an Adelaide-Alice Springs service four days a week. That was axed a short time later.
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