The Virgin Australia Group has confirmed a revised domestic schedule following the Group’s decision to reduce domestic capacity by at least 50 per cent until 14 June 2020 in the wake of COVID-19.
While the Group will continue to maintain the majority of its domestic network reach through reduced frequencies, the schedule changes have informed the temporary suspension of some Virgin Australia and Tigerair Australia services.
Due to the recent travel restrictions imposed by the Tasmania Government, Virgin Australia will wind down services to Tasmania from 23 March.
Virgin Australia will temporarily suspend the following services between 01 April and 14 June 2020:
• Adelaide – Canberra
• Adelaide – Gold Coast
• Brisbane – Hobart
• Brisbane – Launceston
• Canberra – Gold Coast
• Melbourne – Cairns
• Melbourne – Darwin
• Melbourne – Hamilton Island
• Melbourne – Kalgoorlie
• Melbourne – Launceston
• Perth – Hobart
• Sydney – Ayers Rock
• Sydney – Cairns
• Sydney – Darwin
• Sydney – Hamilton Island
• Sydney – Hobart
• Sydney – Launceston
• Sydney – Townsville
Tigerair Australia will temporarily suspend the following services between 01 April and 30 June 2020:
• Brisbane – Cairns
• Brisbane – Canberra
• Melbourne – Perth
• Melbourne – Hobart
As a result of the scheduled removal of six Airbus A320 aircraft in the period, Tigerair Australia will also bring forward previously announced network changes which include the exit of the following domestic routes. The following routes will now cease to operate on 01 April 2020:
• Melbourne – Coffs Harbour
• Sydney – Coffs Harbour
• Adelaide – Sydney
• Sydney – Cairns
• Hobart – Gold Coast
As a result of the reduction in demand and a further network review, Tigerair Australia will also cease flying between Sydney and Perth from 01 April 2020.
Support for guests
The Group is working to reaccommodate impacted guests on alternative Virgin Australia services. Guests who have booked flights on a suspended service will be contacted via email, prioritised by departure date, with alternative travel options.
Guests are advised that due to the large number of schedule changes they should not contact the operating airline unless they are travelling in the next 48 hours or need immediate assistance to return home or to their point of origin.
Minimising People Impact
All 10,000 of the Group’s team members will be impacted to some extent by the measures that have been announced to date, and the Group is focussed on minimising that impact wherever possible.
Today, CEO Paul Scurrah sent a letter to the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, and all State Premiers and Chief Ministers, offering the help of the Group’s people.
“This is an unprecedented crisis on a global scale, and the tough decisions our business has been required to make will unfortunately have an impact on our people. It is my job to minimise that and this rare situation is a unique opportunity for our people to step up and help the nation through this crisis.
“Our people are highly skilled individuals, trained in senior first aid, customer service and emergency response and I believe we can work constructively with the government about how our people can help the broader community. We welcome a discussion about how we can make this happen,” Mr Scurrah said.
