Virgin Australia is adding the central Queensland town of Emerald to the growing regional network served by the airline’s nimble new ATR turboprops.Weekday flights will run twice daily from 16 January, 2012.The morning service will depart from Brisbane at 5.45am and arrive in Emerald at 7.40am. The return leg will leave Emerald at 8.10am, landing in Brisbane at 9.55am.

Afternoon flights will depart Brisbane at 4.00pm, arriving in Emerald at 5.55pm; with a return flight departing Emerald at 6.25pm, arriving in Brisbane at 8.10pm.No flights will take place on Saturday, but on Sunday the afternoon service will operate.Virgin Australia’s General Manager for Sales, Justin Montgomery, proclaimed the flights and the low fares, starting at $88 each one, signalled the beginning of a new era of much needed competition on the route.The spacious and stylish cabin of our brand new 68‐seat ATR‐72 turbo‐prop aircraft is already generating very positive feedback from guests who have flown on it” Montgomery said.The in‐flight experience is certainly in keeping with Virgin Australia’s new business model and will appeal to business and leisure travellers alike.

The ATR turbo‐prop turbine-driven propeller is also being used for flights from Brisbane to Gladstone and Port Macquarie, and will soon also join the Capital Connect shuttle service between Sydney and Canberra.Click here for an inside look at the fuel-efficient 68 seater, which Virgin Australia chief John Borghetti trumpets as “the best aircraft to operate on regional routes throughout Australia.