By aviation writer Scott Mayman

CANBERRA travellers have a short-term benefit of cheap flights ahead of a price rise by the country’s biggest airline.

There’s a huge airfare discount war going on with Jetstar and Virgin offering huge discounts on flights in an out of Canberra Airport.

But there are conditions and a deadline by the end of the week in most cases.

For Virgin, the Canberra discounts come as the airline hits a milestone – CEO Jayne Hrdlicka says it’s been 11 years since Virgin returned a profit and she says the company is transforming with positive plans for the future.

The discounts come as Qantas announces it’s about to introduce a 3.5 per cent rise in tickets because of increased fuel costs.