Domestic routes Virgin Australia flies where Qantas does not
By Andrew Curran.
Almost always the bridesmaid in Australia’s domestic aviation market, Virgin Australia is usually outgunned by Qantas when it comes to network depth and breadth. Qantas has more aircraft and a more varied fleet, meaning it can get right sized planes into more airports more often.
In contrast, Virgin Australia is largely restricted to airports and markets that can handle B737s, although the airline still uses Fokker jets wet-leased from Alliance Airlines on some routes, and its subsidiary Virgin Australia Regional Airlines (VARA) now has three E190-E2s.
Virgin Australia flies to Proserpine and Kununurra, but Qantas does not
However, Virgin Australia does fly into two Australian airports not served by Qantas and operates on nine routes that Qantas does not, although its low-cost subsidiary, Jetstar, operates into one of those airports and over half of the routes.
Qantas stopped flying to Proserpine Airport (PPP) in October 2025. The airline operated on the Brisbane (BNE) – Proserpine (PPP) city pair. That route is now left to Virgin Australia and Jetstar. Virgin Australia operates a daily B737-800 round-trip on the route while Jetstar operates up ten A320-200 round-trips.
The second Australian airport that Virgin Australia flies into that Qantas does not is Kununurra (KNX) in Western Australia. While it has been many years since Qantas flew scheduled flights into the agriculture and mining township, Virgin Australia doesn’t exactly swamp Kununurra with frequency love either, operating up to four weekly round-trip from Perth (PER). However, on the plus side, the airline's brand new E2s do operate some of those flights.
Virgin Australia operates on nine domestic routes that Qantas does not
Proserpine – Brisbane and Kununurra – Perth are two of the nine Australian domestic routes that Virgin Australia operates on, but Qantas does not. The other routes that Virgin Australia operates on, but Qantas doesn’t include:
- Adelaide (ADL) – Cairns (CNS).
- Adelaide (ADL) – Coolangatta/Gold Coast (OOL).
- Adelaide (ADL) – Hobart (HBA).
- Adelaide (ADL) – Launceston (LST).
- Brisbane (BNE) – Yulara (AYQ).
- Canberra (CBR) – Coolangatta/Gold Coast (OOL).
- Launceston (LST) – Perth (PER).
Aside from the Adelaide – Hobart route, which connects two (smaller) capital cities, all these routes connect a capital city with a leisure focused regional airport.
Virgin Australia only flies some of these routes seasonally
It’s also worth mentioning that Virgin Australia only operates on some of these routes seasonally, including the Adelaide – Hobart city pair, where Virgin Australia has B737-800 operated round-trips running between October and April.
Likewise, the airline’s B737-800 operated Adelaide – Launceston flights, which run up to three times per week, are seasonal, operating between October and April. Similarly, Virgin Australia’s thrice weekly Perth – Launceston flights are also seasonal, running between October and March. The airline uses a mix of B737-700 and B737-800 on this route.
Also seasonal are Virgin Australia’s thrice-weekly B737-800 operated flights on the Adelaide – Cairns city pair and B737-700 operated flights between Brisbane and Yulara. The latter flights pause between November and March.
What runs year-round? The airline operates on the Adelaide – Coolangatta/Gold Coast city-pair year-round, offering daily flights using a mix of B737-800 and B737-8s. Virgin Australia’s daily B737-800 flights on the Coolangatta/Gold Coast – Canberra city pair also run year-round.
Qantas competes using Jetstar on some routes
When running, Virgin Australia enjoys sole operator status on the Perth – Launceston, Brisbane – Yulara, and Adelaide – Launceston city-pairs.
Neither Qantas nor Jetstar operate on the Perth – Kununurra route. Rather, Virgin Australia competes with Airnorth, with the carriers tending to schedule their flights on days their competitor does not operate on the route.
On the remaining routes, Qantas deploys Jetstar. The low-cost carrier operates on the Adelaide – Hobart; Adelaide – Cairns; Adelaide – Hobart; and Coolangatta/Gold Coast – Canberra routes, usually on a year-round basis.
In essence, on five out of the nine domestic routes Virgin Australia operates on that Qantas doesn’t, Qantas maintains a shadow presence through Jetstar. Qantas sells Jetstar tickets on its websites, often in combination with Qantas flights, and funnels passengers between the full service and low cost carriers.
In contrast, Virgin Australia is much more constrained in what it can do.
A rare market share win for Virgin Australia
According to Australian Government data, 60.44 million passengers took a domestic flight in Australia in calendar 2025.
Former Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce once said that if an airline (referring to Bonza in this case) could turn a profit on an Australian domestic route that Qantas or Jetstar was not operating on, then he wasn’t doing his job properly.
Typically, Qantas enjoys the largest domestic market among the Australian operators. But in January 2026, Virgin Australia had a rare victory over Qantas.
In its Domestic Airline Competition report, released in March, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission noted that Virgin Australia flew 33.2% of all domestic passengers in January, while Qantas accounted for 33.0% and Jetstar had 32.6%. It was the first time since December 2024 that Virgin Australia trumped Qantas.
However, combine the two Qantas Group carriers and their total market share would have been 65.6%, almost double that of Virgin Australia.
Reflecting the concentrated nature of Australia’s domestic aviation environment, the Qantas Group carriers and Virgin Australia had a 98.8% domestic market share in January. Regional Express (Rex) mopped up the remaining 1.2%.
Photos: Virgin Australia, Great Circle Mapper
Contact the writer: andrew@aerosouthpacific.com