Virgin Australia adds aircraft, routes and frequencies

Virgin Australia has announced major expansion plans with 10 additional aircraft, new routes, and increased frequencies to cater for robust domestic demand. From May 23, the airline will increase flights between Sydney and Perth to four flights a day and Melbourne to Perth to six flights a day. The airline will fast-track the reintroduction of 10 additional Boeing 737-800 aircraft and will have its domestic capacity up to more than 80 percent of its pre-pandemic domestic capacity by mid-June. Virgin Australia Group chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka said "we are building a strong and disciplined business, obsessed with providing our customers the very best of Virgin Australia travel experiences." Read: Qatar Airways a standout for COVID-19 safety   "More aircraft means more flying, and with easing travel restrictions, there are more opportunities to further support domestic tourism and the nation’s economic recovery from COVID-19. "Today, we are operating around 850 weekly return flights, and as we approach the June school holidays, we will add another 220 return flights per week to our schedule. By mid-June, we expect to be operating more than 80 percent of our pre-COVID domestic capacity. More than 220 cabin crew will return to the skies from the airline’s discontinued long-haul international, ATR regional, and Tigerair Australia operations. In addition, the airline will hire more than 150 new cabin crew. The first three aircraft will join the airline’s mainline fleet this month while the remainder is set to progressively enter service by October. The Company has also entered into wet-lease arrangements with Alliance Airlines to operate Fokker 100 services on behalf of Virgin Australia between Brisbane-Alice Springs and Brisbane-Mt Isa from 19 April 2021. Using an Airbus A320 aircraft, Virgin Australia Regional Airlines (VARA) will also move to operate select services on mainline routes between Perth-Darwin, Perth-Broome, and Perth-Adelaide from next month. These arrangements will support the redeployment of the Boeing 737 aircraft to other markets. Trans-Tasman services to Queenstown are set to recommence ahead of the school holidays on September 18, 2021. New and extended seasonal services include Melbourne to Hamilton Island, Darwin, and Byron Bay, and Brisbane to Launceston and Queenstown and Sydney to Queenstown.