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Category: Air Transport / Industry / Business, Economics and Finance

Tigerair to resume flights between Canberra and Melbourne

Monday, 22 Aug 2016 14:03:08

Tigerair stopped servicing Canberra in 2011. (ABC: Tyson Shine)

Budget airline Tigerair has announced it will resume flights between Canberra and Melbourne, breaking the duopoly held by Qantas and Virgin.

The carrier stopped servicing the capital in 2011, a time where it had a reputation for poor customer service and flight cancellations.

However, after being acquired by Virgin, chief executive Rob Sharp said Tigerair had been revamped and was ready to service the Canberra market.

"We've been turning the business around, Virgin Australia acquired the business and we rebranded the business three years ago," he said.

"We have the lowest cancellation rates now, over the last 18 months, of all the domestic carriers, including the main carriers.

"What we've been doing is building the network and looking at where there's demand for our low-cost product — and we believe there's demand here in Canberra."

Tourism sector to benefit: Chief Minister

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said there was "strong evidence" Canberra travellers had paid steeper fares as a result of the grip major airlines held on flights from the city.

He said the local tourism sector would also receive a boost when budget options to reach Canberra were made available.

"It was very expensive to fly to Canberra, when you look at the various destinations that are available for people out of Melbourne, they could fly a lot further for a lot cheaper on the low cost carriers than they could to get to Canberra," Mr Barr said.

"This opens up a whole new market segment for our city, but for Canberrans as well, it means being able to get down to Melbourne for a very affordable fare."

Mr Barr said he was hopeful the decision would encourage Qantas' budget arm Jetstar to also introduce flights to Canberra Airport.

"This announcement is going to stimulate some more competition in the marketplace ... as soon as someone makes that commitment, makes that decision, all of a sudden there's a lot of interest in that destination," he said.

Tigerair will begin daily flights between Melbourne and Canberra in early December, and pricing and schedule information will be announced later this week.

AustraliaPlus


 

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