The roar of military jets will not be heard over Avalon Airport in Victoria this year after Australia’s landmark air show was cancelled because of the COVID pandemic.

AVALON 2021 had been delayed until the end of November but now will not be held until February-March 2023.

Avalon is billed as the most comprehensive aviation, aerospace and defence show in the southern hemisphere and a key platform for the Australian aerospace and defence industry.

READ: Uncertainty the mother of new routes for Virgin.

In a letter released Tuesday, AMDA Foundation chief executive Ian Honnery said the pandemic had already required the Avalon organising team to work through many challenges.

“However, recent developments as a consequence of the COVID-19 Delta strain have highlighted that the environment has become more unpredictable,’’ the letter said.

“Delivering such a highly complex, hallmark event in these challenging circumstances would involve risks of uncertainty for attendees, participants, industry and the Australian public.

“Therefore, in order to minimise uncertainty and disruption to attendees and participants, the difficult decision has been taken now that AVALON 2021 will not go ahead.”

Honnery said the decision was deeply disappointing for the team working for the AMDA Foundation, which organizes the event, as well as for stakeholders, exhibitors, participants and patrons.

But he said public health needed to be paramount.

“Staged with major participation from the Royal Australian Air Force and substantial support from the Victorian Government, it is one of the largest events of its kind internationally, attracting exhibitors, participants and visitors from around the world,’’ he said.

“While AVALON cannot proceed in 2021, AMDA Foundation is now embarking on planning and preparation for AVALON 2023 which will be held from February 28 to March 5, 2023.

“With the expected transition to post-COVID normalcy, AVALON 2023 will return to international prominence as one of the world’s great air shows. “

The organizers had planned to bring together the biggest range of Royal Australian Air Force assets ever assembled for the show to mark the RAAF’s Centenary, including historical and modern aircraft spanning the defence force’s 100-year history.

When you can’t fly where you want, you fly where you can — and Virgin Australia is making the most out of Australia’s limited options with fresh services between three states that still have open borders.

The services don’t begin until early next month but the grim COVID situation on the eastern seaboard saw the Brisbane-based airline decide to “juggle” its network schedule to launch an Adelaide-Launceston route and return to Adelaide-Darwin in time for the school holidays.

In what is enthusiastically described as an “epic” sale, Virgin is offering economy fares between Adelaide and Launceston from $A59 one way and between Adelaide and Darwin from $119.

READ: Ground handlers warn of threat to summer flights.

Customers who book before midnight Tuesday also get double status credits with the airline’s Velocity loyalty scheme. They can also change or cancel with no fees on travel to February 2022.

The three services per week between Adelaide and Launceston route are due to start September 7 while the four weekly Adelaide-Darwin flights begin September 6.

“As Australia’s favorite airline, we are committed to putting more planes in the sky when we can to create more travel opportunities for Australians,’’ Virgin chief commercial officer Dave Emerson said in announcing the routes.  “Better yet, every booking is flexible to give everybody peace of mind to book.

“More flying also means we’ll have more of our team members in the air and more business for the many hundreds of tourism operators and hospitality venues who rely on the economic injection tourists provide their communities.”

Virgin’s fares include checked baggage and seat allocation and business fares are available from $299 one-way on Adelaide Launceston and $599 on Adelaide-Darwin.

Australian carriers have been slammed by COVID lockdowns, prompting REX to suspend its Boeing 737 services and Qantas to announce earlier this month that it was standing down 2500 staff.

Almost a quarter of flights, the highest number since on-time performance records began, were cancelled in June.

A group representing ground handling companies has warned a decision to exclude contract workers from a $750 weekly aviation COVID payment could see hundreds of flights grounded this summer.

The Australian Aviation Ground Handling Industry Alliance claims thousands of workers are poised to leave the industry because they are ineligible for the $750 a week payment offered to some airline staff.

The alliance represents contractors such as Swissport, dnata and Menzies Aviation that employ workers such as aircraft cleaners, baggage handlers, security staff and caterers.

READ: Auckland airport to merge international and domestic terminals.

Its members also perform aircraft handling tasks such as pre-take-off safety inspections and pushbacks.

The federal government scheme allows airlines to receive payments of $750 a week for half of their frontline staff if they can show a 30 percent downturn in their business as a result of the current spate of COVID lockdowns.

The relief package allows airline workers outside COVID hotspots to receive the same level of support as those who live in COVID-affected areas.

But outsourced workers providing ground handling work at many airports, particularly those in regional areas, are not covered.

This has prompted the ground handling companies to warn of a shortage of skilled staff as flights hopefully resume over summer.

“Our 9,800 specialist ground handlers are being denied the same financial support from the government for doing the same work, at the same airport for the same airline as inhouse employees,” alliance chair Glenn Rutherford said.

“If that protection is not extended to all aviation ground operations personnel, it will inevitably mean a large proportion of our workforce will pursue other more financially secure work in the weeks ahead, after almost 18 months of diminished or no work.

“It will then take at least six months to recruit more workers when state borders reopen, train them up to government standards and have them accredited by the government.

“That means we are likely to see many flights grounded in November, December, January and February owing to a nationwide shortage of professional aviation ground operations staff.”

The call was echoed by the Transport Workers’ Union, with national secretary Michael Kaine also warning of a potential loss of skills and accusing the government of picking which workers to support.

“If you’re a worker at a ground handler in Perth, Darwin or Adelaide and have been stood down because flights have been grounded in Sydney you are being told to fend for yourself. There’s nothing here for you,” Kaine said.

“But if you work for Qantas you’ll get a wage subsidy.

“This isn’t only unfair it also has the potential of hampering the ability of flights to get off the ground when lockdowns lift – because there won’t be anyone to do the baggage, catering or cleaning.”

Qantas announced earlier this month that it was standing down 2500 workers because of the significant fall in flying due to COVID restrictions and recent reports have suggested Virgin Australia will take a similar tack.

Australia’s Qantas is working on incentives to convince customers to get vaccinated that include grand prizes of a year’s unlimited flying anywhere in the group’s network.

Qantas Group chief executive Alan Joyce said this week that he expected people would be able to register for incentives that could also include 1000 frequent flyer points and fare discounts “in the next few weeks or few months”.

But the big payoff will be 10  “super prizes” that will see at least one awarded for each state and territory and will offer unlimited flying for a year across the Qantas and Jetstar network.

READ: US safety chief calls for curb on airport alcohol sales.

“So when international opens up, you could go to New York every week and London every other week, if you wanted to do that,’’ Joyce told reporters on a telephone conference this week.

“And tied into that, our partners ACCOR have given a million of their frequent flyer points which is tens of thousands of dollars worth of free accommodation to those winners and BP have given a fuel benefit to those 10 winners.

“We’re hoping to get the technology ready within the next few weeks or few months so that we can get people to register and award those incentives by the end of the calendar year.”

Australia has been a laggard when it comes to vaccinations and the national government has said it will not abolish caps on Australians returning from overseas until 80 percent of the eligible population is vaccinated.

Dubbed “Phase C”, this phase would include a gradual reopening of inbound and outbound travel with travel bubbles and travel involving safe countries.

It would not be until the nation enters the “Phase D” post-vaccination world that international borders would be opened more widely with uncapped inbound arrivals without quarantine for vaccinated travelers and testing regimes for those who have not had the jab.

But some countries are taking a harder line and there were indications this week that the US was among those considering proof of vaccination as a condition of entry for foreigners.

Digital health passes will be a key to international travel and Qantas, which has previously expressed support for a “no-jab, no-fly” regime,  has opted for the International Air Transport Association’s Travel Pass.

The Australian carrier opted for the IATA health pass after testing several digital solutions aimed at verifying health credentials.

The pass allows the airline to verify a customer’s vaccination information and connects to certified testing labs to allow them to demonstrate they have cleared required tests before flying.

It also matches a customer’s health information against a specific flight, checks the entry requirements of the destination country and provides clearance to travel on that flight.

“Many Governments are already requiring proof of vaccine or a negative COVID test result for international travel,’’ Qantas Group chief customer officer Stephanie Tully said in announcing the technology.

“Even if it wasn’t a government requirement, Qantas has always been a leader in safety and we have a responsibility to our customers and crew.

“A digital health pass will connect customers with COVID testing facilities, health authorities and airlines, and ultimately enable the opening of more travel bubbles and borders.”