Coronavirus Australia: Virgin Australia to suspend all international flights

Virgin Australia will suspend all its international flights from March 30 for at least two months, 24 hours after Qantas announced it was cutting international flights by a massive 90 per cent by the end of the month.

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Virgin Australia will suspend all international flights from March 30 for at least two months and cut its domestic routes in half.

The airline announced on Wednesday it would prioritise bringing Australians home before temporarily grounds the equivalent of 53 aircraft from its fleet.

“The Virgin Australia Group has today announced a temporary suspension of international services and further cuts to domestic capacity in response to expanded government travel restrictions and increased impacts from COVID-19 on travel demand,” a statement from the airline said.

Virgin Australia will suspend all international flights from March 30.

Virgin Australia chief executive and managing director Paul Scurrah said the world had entered an “unprecedented time” in the aviation industry.

“(This) has required us to take significant action to responsibly manage our business while balancing traveller demands and supporting the wellbeing of Australians,” he said.

“We have responded by making tough decisions which include reducing our domestic capacity and phasing in the temporary suspension of international flying for a period of two and a half months.”

The suspension and flight reductions will continue until at least June 14.

Yesterday, Australia’s flag carrier Qantas announced it is cutting international flights by a massive 90 per cent by the end of the month.

One of the first flights to arrive in Australia from overseas during the self-isolation measures. Picture: John Grainger

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Domestic flights will also be cut by 60 per cent - a huge jump from the five per cent reduction in flights the airline had earlier predicted.

A statement from the airline said the international cuts “largely reflects the demand impact of severe quarantine requirements on people’s ability to travel overseas.

It means 150 jets will be grounded including almost all of the airline’s wide bodied long haul fleet of A380 superjumbos.

The airline said the cuts “reflects a rapid decline in forward travel demand due to government containment measures, corporate travel bans and a general pullback from everyday activities across the community.”

The aircraft will be parked until “at least the end of May 2020” with previously announced cuts remaining in place until September.

Some of the unused passenger aircraft will be repurposed to boost the Qantas fleet of freight aircraft that will keep flying through the crisis.

The airline has 30,000 staff and will be looking to manage the cost impact by asking staff to use paid and unpaid leave. Chief executive Alan Joyce has already announced he will not be paid for three months as well as cutting executive pay and axing bonuses.

Masked passengers head for their flights at Sydney International Airport. Picture: John Grainger

A booking waiver has been introduced for customers whose flights have been cancelled or who want to suspend their travel plans. Details can be found here.

In a candid memo to all staff yesterday chief executive Alan Joyce said the demand for international travel is “evaporating” with little “indication that demand will return in the short term”.

Mr Joyce, who has stopped receiving pay during the crisis, said the strict quarantine restrictions “will increase the dramatic decline in international bookings that we’ve already experienced”.

“We’re now also seeing a substantial drop in domestic travel demand as people begin to retreat from everyday activities,” Mr Joyce wrote. “This will have impacts for all of us. There are obviously major hardships ahead that will impact the entire group.”

Qantas and Jetstar have already offered a booking waiver to customers allowing them to cancel flights and receive a travel credit.

The airline is expected to further update passengers and staff with detail on axed services as early as today.

A spokesman said: “We’re working through the implications for our schedule now given the expected impact on demand, with a view to announcing more detail as soon as possible.”

Flight crews take precautions at Sydney International Airport. Picture: John Grainger

Mr Joyce’s memo to staff was slightly more upbeat than the one British Airways chief executive Alex Cruz wrote to his 45,000 staff at the ­weekend.

“Some of us have worked in aviation through the global financial crisis, the SARS outbreak and 9/11,” Mr Cruz said in the memo.

“What is happening right now as a result of COVID-19 is more serious than any of these events. It is a crisis of global proportions like no other we have known.”

German airline Lufthansa has grounded two thirds of its jets and cut its 70 daily flights to the US to just four.

Originally published as Coronavirus Australia: Virgin Australia to suspend all international flights