Virgin Blue is not taking the threat to airfare competition lying down, announcing it will take on Qantas and Ansett on the busy Sydney-Melbourne route now that Impulse has withdrawn.

Services could commence as early as June after slots at Sydney Airport were awarded to Virgin as a condition of the Impulse-Qantas merger. Keep an eye on FlightChoice for Virgin's fare offers when released, or join InfoChoice and register for our email alerts.

Virgin has also cut its Sydney-Brisbane lowest one-way fare to $55 to match Qantas on this route. Ansett still has this fare at $66 and we are yet to see if it will follow.

It appears the Impulse-Qantas deal has not ended airfare discounting as feared with competition - so far - alive and well in our skies.