Virgin Atlantic will axe its sole Australian service, saying increasing costs and weak revenues have made it unprofitable.
The British airline will ditch its Sydney to Hong Kong service from May, almost 10 years after first landing in Australia.
In a statement, Virgin Atlantic said increasing costs and a challenging economic environment meant the route was no longer profitable.
"Despite the best efforts of our employees, external factors such as increasing costs and a weakening Australian dollar have affected our profitability," chief executive Craig Kreeger said.
"These are still difficult times for the airline industry and as part of our strategy to operate more efficiently we need to deploy our aircraft to routes with the right level of demand to be financially viable."
The move is good news for competitors Qantas and Cathay Pacific, who will now be the only airlines to fly directly between Sydney and Hong Kong.
But the decision will result in job losses in both Sydney and Hong Kong, though staff will need to wait for the end of a consultation period to learn their fate.
Virgin Atlantic, which is a separate entity to its namesake Virgin Australia, employs 50 staff in Sydney.
The airline expects the last Sydney to Hong Kong flight to be on May 5 and urged passengers with flights booked after that date contact it or their travel agent regarding alternative options.
