Perth Airport has welcomed Virgin Australia’s announcement that the airline will commence a new seasonal service between Perth and Hobart from late October.
The news comes after the airline announced earlier this month that it will also be launching a service between Perth and Launceston over the summer, which commences in November.
Perth Airport Chief Executive Officer Kevin Brown said that the new seasonal services were a great opportunity to test the market ahead of the aviation industry’s recovery post-Covid.
“We will be working with our tourism partners and Virgin Australia to ensure these links between Western Australia and Tasmania become strong routes, and we look forward to adding more interstate destinations when it is safe to do so.
“It is great to see our airline partners looking to the future with the view of introducing and expanding their networks to increase Western Australia’s connectivity.
“Travel between Tasmania and Western Australia is open to passengers without any Covid-19 restrictions, so we are expecting travel between the two capital cities to be popular during the season.
“It is exciting to see vaccination rates rise in Western Australia which ultimately will provide further opportunities for people to start travelling again.
“Passengers can also be assured that our airport has robust Covid-safe processes and measures in place safe as we have recently had our Airport Health Accreditation renewed for a second year, after being the first Australian airport to be awarded the honour in 2020.”
The new Hobart service creates an important connection between the two cities and adds 1,050 leisure tourism seats per week to the Perth and Western Australia market.
The service will operate on Monday, Friday and Sunday on Virgin’s Boeing 738 aircraft.