Virgin Australia updates short haul international network

Virgin Australia announced (13-May-2021) plans to defer most short haul international flying, including to Fiji and Indonesia, until at least Dec-2021. This is a result of the Australian Government's budget outlining new predictions for the aviation sector, including for international travel, where visitation is expected to remain low until at least mid-2022. Continued efforts by Australian State and Federal Governments to refine trans-Tasman travel arrangements will allow the airline to operate Boeing 737 services between Sydney-Queenstown and Brisbane-Queenstown, as planned from 18-Sep- 2021, and Melbourne-Queenstown service from 07-Dec-2021. Because current demand for other New Zealand destinations remains subdued, Virgin Australia will defer them from sale alongside services to Vanuatu, Samoa and the Solomon Islands. Virgin Australia chief strategy and transformation officer Alistair Hartley stated despite positive trans-Tasman developments, "current demand for travel to New Zealand remains subdued, except for Queenstown, where customers are looking to travel over the September school holidays and the upcoming summer. All other New Zealand services will be deferred for the time being". [more - original PR]