Virgin lounge network expands with Perth and Gold Coast

Virgin Australia’s lounge network is coming back to life with facilities in Perth and the Gold Coast re-opening on January 12 and Adelaide and Canberra on their way. The Perth re-opening comes as Virgin returns to T1 and as customer demand for the airline’s services in Western Australia remains stable despite the WA government’s predilection for border closures. Similarly, the volume of frequent flyers in the Gold Coast warrants the lounge re-opening despite the recent surprise lockdown of Greater Brisbane and associated border restrictions. READ: Australia mandates pre-fight COVID testing, cuts arrival caps. Virgin re-opened its Brisbane lounge on November 18 and its Melbourne and Sydney lounges on December 15. The airline did not give a date for the opening of the Canberra and Adelaide lounges but indicated they would be opening soon. Lounges in Alice Springs, Cairns, Darwin, Mackay and Perth T2 have been closed permanently. “Virgin Australia is committed to a network of domestic lounges and we look forward to continuing to offer these fantastic spaces for our frequent flyers,’’ a spokesman said. The Virgin lounges remain in COVID mode with “hosted” pre-made food offerings that include sweet and savory options, sandwiches and fresh fruit. There is also barista-made coffee, premium tea and soft drinks served from a hosted bar as well as alcoholic beverages such as craft beers and curated wines from noon. Some facilities, such as showers and business center services, are still not available. Virgin was tipped into administration by the pandemic, prompting an ownership change and restructuring that saw it reduce its fleet and move to a "mid-market" strategy aimed at providing better value for customers. The lounges are part of that offering, which also includes business class, extra-legroom economy seats as well as a tiered frequent flyer membership. Virgin is yet to finalize its cabin offering, promising to unveil it in the first quarter of 2021.