Mayor applauds Virgin Australia regional fares program

Central Highlands’ Mayor Kerry Hayes says the announcement today from Virgin Australia about its Regional Fares Program is a fabulous Christmas gift for his community.

Virgin Australia today launched a Regional Fares Program to provide people in selected Queensland regions that have essential travel needs, such as for medical treatment or family emergency, to book travel to a capital city at short notice at a capped fare price.

Mayor Hayes said the problem of essential travel in and out of the region has been raised time and again by his community.

‘I’m really, really pleased to hear this news today,’ the mayor said. ‘For so long, people have had this worry about how to fly out of Emerald if they really need to quickly and without paying a fortune.

‘To now have that reassurance that no matter what life throws up you can get a seat on a plane and be at Brisbane Airport right away for a minimum of $300 and a maximum of $600 return is a game changer,’ he said.

‘I’ll add my congratulations to those expressed by Member for Flynn Ken O’Dowd to Virgin Australia for giving regional communities a fair go.

‘It’s certainly a welcome gift to this region at the end of a pretty tough year.’

In its press release, Virgin Australia says, ‘Fares are available to residents who are members of the Velocity Frequent Flyer program and who have their profile linked to a regional address that is within range of an eligible airport. Bookings must be made directly through the Regional Fares Program page on the Virgin Australia website.