Virgin Australia Delays Sydney-Canberra Restart Again

Virgin Australia has pushed back the resumption of direct flights between Sydney and Canberra – a route that it hasn’t served for almost two years.

In early December 2021, Virgin announced that it would return to the Sydney-Canberra route in partnership with Link Airways from 30 January 2022. The flights would be marketed by Virgin Australia, but operated by Link Airways using 34-seater Saab 340 aircraft.

It was announced that Link Airways would operate the route up to nine times per day on behalf of Virgin Australia under the new agreement.

Unfortunately, it seems there isn’t yet sufficient demand for Virgin to make this work – even using aircraft that seat only 34 passengers.

In mid-January, Virgin pushed back its launch date for the new Canberra-Sydney services from 30 January to 14 February 2022. This has now been pushed back even further to at least 21 March 2022. It is possible that this date could change again in the future.

All Virgin Canberra-Sydney flights prior to 20 March 2022 have been cancelled. Passengers with affected bookings are being offered alternative flights via Melbourne or a full refund. They are not being offered rebooking onto direct flights on other airlines.

Australian Frequent Flyer understands that Virgin Australia still intends to recommence its Sydney-Canberra service in partnership with Link Airways at some point, but that the schedule will continue to be updated in line with demand.

Demand on many routes to and from Canberra, particularly the Canberra-Sydney route, is currently impacted by Australian Public Service Commission guidance discouraging public servants from unnecessary travel during the COVID-19 Omicron wave.

The normally lucrative Canberra-Sydney route is currently served by QantasLink and Rex. Rex launched services in April 2021 after Virgin Australia cancelled previous plans to relaunch services on the route in early 2021 with double-daily Boeing 737-700 flights.

Rex initially said when it launched services that it would fly between Canberra and Sydney up to 10 times per day “if the patronage is good”. As of February 2022, Rex is currently running two flights per day.

Until April 2020, Virgin Australia operated up to nine daily flights between Sydney and Canberra using ATR 72 aircraft operated by Virgin Australia Regional Airlines. These aircraft are no longer a part of Virgin’s fleet.

Other Virgin Australia routes are also impacted by Omicron

Virgin Australia has also recently had to scale back many of its existing routes due to suppressed demand and a lack of available staff during the Omicron outbreak. This sadly includes flights to Fiji, Virgin’s only current international destination.

Virgin only resumed flights to Nadi in mid-December of 2021, but the route was temporarily suspended from late January due to reduced demand relating to COVID-19.

Virgin currently plans to resume flights to Fiji on 10 March 2022. Impacted passengers have been contacted and moved onto alternative services, where possible.

Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: Virgin CBR-SYD flights restarting

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 70 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include economics, aviation & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.