No More TSV-CBR?

[brad330]

What happened to VA's TSV-CBR service operated daily with E190 A/C? It was very convenient with a 25-30 minute connection time from CNS.

 

[Standby]

DJ dropped the nonstop route in mid Sep 2011 around the time they were handing back the E170s

 

[calroth]

Whilst they discontinued the nonstop flight, they did preserve the price—$145 from Canberra to Townsville is cheaper than other comparable Queensland destinations!

I presume that instead of a nonstop flight, it's now via OOL. Since I'm currently sitting at Townsville Airport (!), about to fly TSV-OOL-CBR. I'm told that both sectors are in the same plane, which is a good thing, since the flights today have been delayed by 2 hours... and since it's the same plane, we're the only ones guaranteed not to miss their connection!

Reading between the lines, I suspect that the same plane also goes to CNS (i.e. CBR-OOL-TSV-CNS and vice-versa).

 

[eastwest101]

Good to hear Calroth got a pretty good deal - this seems to be Wed and Sat flights only that are available through OOL, otherwise the VA booking site forces you choose between going via SYD or BNE.

There is a significant price differential between flying TSV-CBR via SYD/BNE vs OOL. I know that Virgin Blue did have direct CBR-TSV flights with E170's and E190's - surprisingly given the large ADF contingent in both towns, the fares were quite reasonable and flights not too full. Qantas also used to do direct CBR-TSV as well with Bae146's and maybe even B733's or B717's but also dropped these and force you to fly through BNE.