VIRGIN Blue aims to take on Qantas' dominance of the regional air travel market

With the new aircraft we will do new flying and be able to increase frequencies and be better able to match capacity and schedules with demand. Virgin is also looking at airports in more than 20 cities and towns across rural Australia, including places as far apart as Devonport on the north-west coast of Tasmania and Emerald in southern Queensland. During the past few months evaluation teams were despatched to Albury, Armidale, Bathurst, Burnie, Dubbo, Mildura, Tamworth and Wagga to check on likely ticket sales from local travel markets, suitability of airstrips and requisite facilities in air small air terminals.