Virgin Australia has slashed the cost of flights to Queensland to as little as $85 as the Sunshine State prepares to throw open its borders.

The airline’s ‘Good to Go’ sale runs until midnight on July 14, and offers over half a million discount fares to destinations including Brisbane, Cairns, Gold Coast, Hamilton Island and Townsville.

Tourism operators in Queensland are hoping tourists will flock back once the borders reopen having endured testing times during the state’s border closure.

Theme parks across the state are reopening with strict safety measures to protect visitors and staff in place.

Virgin Australia Chief Commercial Officer, John Macleod hailed the reopening of the Queensland border to interstate travellers.

“Queensland is a very important market to Virgin Australia and we’re delighted to be able to fly travellers back to the Sunshine State,” Mr MacLeod said.

“With fares from as low as $85 including baggage, we hope the sale gets travellers on the holidays they’ve been dreaming about or to reunite them with their family and friends.”

Qantas flights to Queensland are currently more than $100.

Queensland locked its borders early on in the pandemic and Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has refused to budge on reopening the state despite the threat of legal challenges.

-with AAP