The airline will operate four services a week between Adelaide and Hobart on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday from October 22.

It is the only carrier airline to offer direct flights to two Tasmanian cities from Adelaide following its introduction of direct flights to Launceston on September 7.

Qantas and Jetstar already offer a direct flight between Adelaide and Hobart, which takes about one hour and 50 minutes.

It will be the first time three major domestic carriers have scheduled flights between the two capital cities, which will now see 13 services per week operate from Adelaide Airport.

Adelaide Airport managing director Mark Young said he welcomed the continuing growth of the Virgin Australia network out of Adelaide.

“Virgin Australia has further demonstrated its commitment to the Adelaide market with today’s Hobart announcement, and follows the addition of Adelaide to Cairns, Darwin and Launceston services to its network over the past month,” he said.

“Tasmania is certainly a rapidly growing destination for South Australians at the moment, and at the same time we think there will be a similarly strong flow of visitors from Tasmania looking to sample all that South Australia has to offer including our wines and festival culture.”

Virgin Australia Group chief strategy and transformation officer Alistair Hartley said today’s announcement would reconnect more Australians in time for Christmas.

“Virgin Australia continues to look for new ways to expand our network schedule to create more travel opportunities for Australians where free movement across borders is permitted – that’s why we’re proud to announce the launch of services between Hobart and Adelaide in time for Christmas,” he said.

The Virgin flights will depart Adelaide at 7.30am and depart Hobart at 10.40am using a Boeing B737.