Virgin Blue Uses E-170 to Move into Turboprop Route

Source: Flight International    Author: Leithen Francis    08/05/2008

Subject Concerned: Aircraft   Airlines   

Australia's Virgin Blue is launching a daily non-stop service from Melbourne to Mildura, a small regional route that is currently only served by turboprop aircraft from rival carriers.

Virgin Blue says in a statement that it will be launching a daily non-stop service on the route stating on October 13.

It will be using 78-seat Embraer 170s which are "25% quicker than the existing turboprop aircraft currently operating on the route", making the flight time 1-hour compared to 80 minutes, it says.

The competitors on the route are Regional Express (Rex) and QantasLink which operate Saab 340s and Bombardier Q-series aircraft respectively. Each has around 25 flights per week on the route according to Innovata.

Mildura is a large rural town on the Murray River bordering the states of Victoria and New South Wales. The main industry there is fruit orchards and fruit processing.