Mackay Airport
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Time is running out to secure 6 a.m. service

The Mackay Port Authority is concerned that time is quickly running out to entice Virgin into introducing a dawn service to Brisbane.

Virginblue's Robert D'Alessio (left) and Peter Bailey discuss new opportunities for the low-cost carrier with Mackay Airport general manager Trevor Heard (center) today.

Airport general manager Trevor Heard said the low cost carrier was in the closing phase of finalizing its winter schedule.

“We have been told that Virgin is continuing to examine the feasibility of coming to the city’s rescue with the upcoming demise of the 6 a.m. Qantas flight, but it’s been made clear that this window is closing and in fact could close within a days,” he said

Mr Heard said Virgin had again raised the need for Mackay City Council and the business community to support the service.

Qantas has put Mackay’s business community in a spin by announcing it will axe its 6 a.m. Mackay/Brisbane service with the launch of budget airline Jetstar next month.

The city’s business and community leaders and local politicians Tim Mulherin and De-Anne Kelly have joined forces in urging Qantas to reconsider its upcoming schedule and plans for a new daily 8 a.m. service to the State’s capital.

 The group will meet with Qantas’ Regional Queensland general manager Terry Simpson in Mackay on April 28.

Mr Heard today held further talks with Virgin executives Robert D’Alessio and Peter Bailey during an operations and safety audit of the airline’s activities in Mackay.

The early morning service was high on the agenda, but he also provided Virgin with details of a special survey being conducted by Member for Mackay Tim Mulherin in a bid to gauge public support for the 6 a.m. flight. The survey has found that 83 per cent of Qantas passengers would support a 6 a.m. Virgin service.

The visit to Mackay by Mr D’Alessio was a surprise homecoming for his parents Michael and Rose D’Alessio of Denton Street.

Twenty-seven-year-old Mr D’Alessio is Virginblue’s Regional Co-ordinator of Guest Services for Mackay.

“It’s always great to come home and see family and friends,” he said.

Mr D’Alessio grew up in Mackay and was school captain at St. Patrick’s College in 1994.