The expanded Air North direct service from Darwin to Townsville seems to be well supported. It is no longer necessary to make the long way round trip to Townsville via Brisbane or Cairns. Flight time is about 2hours 20minutes and is bound to build up two way contact, bringing the Barrier Reef , university and medical training facilities closer to the NT. Little Darwin used the service recently, the first time on an Air North plane, the second in a larger associated Alliance Airlines 100 seat Fokker which carried the above new inflight magazine ROCKS containing an article about Darwin’s Beercan Regatta. Alliance is closely associated with the mining industry, providing FIFO services. While some passengers on the Townsville to Darwin flight were obviously dressed for action FIFOs, there were businessmen , family groups, apparent tourists .
