Omicron updates: Jetstar, Virgin flight axe sparks Christmas travel chaos

Aussies have had their Christmas plans thrown into disarray after Covid-19 forced Jetstar and Virgin to cancel dozens of flights.

Hundreds of people preparing to reunite with their loved ones have had their Christmas plans thrown into disarray after Jetstar and Virgin cancelled or rescheduled dozens of flights.

Customers were given little warning before Jetstar Christmas Eve flights on busy routes between Victoria, NSW and Queensland and South Australia were canned.

Jetstar called off 10 December 24 flights on Australia's busiest route between Melbourne and Sydney.

Hundreds of people have had their Christmas plans thrown into disarray . Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Crosling

According to Virgin’s flight status tracker on its website, the airline cancelled 12 of its own flights between the two cities.

More than 20 flights between the major cities and Gold Coast, Adelaide and Brisbane have also been scratched or rescheduled across both airlines.

A Virgin Australia spokesman said the airline had cancelled the flights earlier in the week but it had already moved all passengers onto alternative flights and that no one had been left stranded.

“We apologise to any guest impacted by changes to our schedule made earlier this week,” he said.

“All impacted guests have been contacted prior to travel and automatically moved onto alternative services that have a same day departure.”

Customers shared their frustration on social media. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Crosling

Would-be passengers were reportedly alerted to the Jetstar’s cancellations as late as 9pm on Thursday evening, after many customers would have been in bed to wake up for an early flight.

People were reportedly offered replacements that took long detours via other cities and landed at their destinations up to eight hours later than they had booked to arrive.

Customers shared their frustration on social media, with one father saying: “I feel like screaming. Daughter in Sydney did all the right things. Double vacc, bolstered, PCR test, Qld border pass. Jetstar just cancelled her flight to Bris. No explanation.”

Customers were given little warning before Christmas Eve flights on busy routes were cancelled. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw

A different passenger tweeted at Virgin Australia’s Twitter account to say, “with cancelled, rescheduled and now delayed flights, it’s obvious you are really trying to compete with Jetstar”.

Meanwhile, another person wrote: “Not only did you split up my family on our flight, you have now cancelled it, I rebook instantly on the next flight available and you split us up again”.

One passenger wrote on Twitter on Friday morning: “Thanks for ruining Christmas Eve, Jetstar.”

Customers were given little warning before Jetstar Christmas Eve flights on busy routes were canned. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Crosling

A Jetstar spokeswoman said the late flight cancellations were a result of airline staff having to test for Covid-19 and isolate as close contacts.

“We appreciate the frustration this causes, especially as customers are travelling for Christmas, and sincerely apologise for the impact these changes are having on travel plans,” she said.

“We are working to minimise any delays and re-accommodating passengers on flights as close as possible to their original departure times across both Jetstar and Qantas services.”

The Virgin Australia spokesman said the airline was operating hundreds of services on December 24 with little to no impact on scheduled departure or arrival times.

OMICRON CHANGES IN NSW AS CASES GROW

People who contract Covid-19 in NSW can only expect a phone call from NSW Health if they work at or have visited a high-risk setting such as a disability group home, Aboriginal community, detention centre or jail.

The reduced approach to contact tracing comes as NSW battles by far its most widespread outbreak driven by the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

Under the DIY approach to contact tracing, people who test positive get a text message from NSW Health asking them to fill out an online questionnaire.

The results are then used to focus NSW Health resources so that the most vulnerable cases are interviewed.

Those who are only contacted by text are asked to let their contacts know about their diagnosis, a role which used to be performed by government representatives.

On 16 December NSW Health announced contact tracing was “evolving” with major cuts.

As COVID-19 cases increase across NSW, we are evolving contact tracing and will be prioritising case interviews and detailed follow up with people diagnosed with COVID-19, (continued) pic.twitter.com/Wi0BzPgUCL

— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) December 17, 2021

Contact tracing has been overwhelmed by the Omicron outbreak with just 54 per cent – of people who test positive fully interviewed last week.

The week prior, that figure was 94 per cent.

The number of high-risk cases fully interviewed within a day also fell slightly, from 91 per cent to 89 per cent.

While people are out and about and getting on with their lives as part of “living with Covid”, Dr Kerry Chant on Thursday said caution was needed in the face of rapidly rising case numbers.

A health worker looks on at the Histopath pre-departure testing clinic at Sydney International airport. Demand at testing centres across Sydney has increased in the lead up to Christmas. Picture: Jenny Evans/Getty Images

NZ BORDER OPENING DELAYED

New Zealand has delayed its border re-opening until late February amid a surge of Omicron cases in Australia and around the world.

Kiwis in Australia were due to be able to return to New Zealand without hotel quarantine from January 17.

But the nation’s Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins on Tuesday said delaying until late February would allow more than 80 per cent of Kiwis to have their booster shots, and the country would be well advanced in vaccinating five to 11-year-olds.

This would mean New Zealanders should be better protected from Omicron he said.

Mr Hipkins said with New South Wales estimating 25,000 cases a day by end of next month, it was too high risk to open the border in mid-January as planned.

Covid-19 Response Chris Hipkins in Wellington, New Zealand. Picture: Getty Images

“There’s no doubt this is disappointing and will upset many holiday plans, but it’s important to set these changes out clearly today so they can have time to consider those plans,” he said.
“All of the evidence so far points to Omicron being the most transmissible Covid-19 variant yet and public health advice suggests that soon, every case that comes into MIQ will be Omicron.

“But experts still don’t know how severe it is. So while it’s sweeping the globe at a bewildering speed and appears to be the dominant variant, how sick it makes people and the impact it has on health systems is not yet fully understood.

“But we need to do more. Parts of the world are going back into lockdown and experiencing major disruption, and with these extra steps we aim to keep Omicron at bay to ensure New Zealanders get the break they deserve and businesses can remain open.”

Under the new rules, non-Australian foreign tourists won’t be allowed back into New Zealand until April.

Before entering New Zealand, those travellers allowed in would need to have a negative Covid test within 48 hours of their trip, down from 72 hours.

Mr Hipkins said New Zealand would also trim the gap between the second vaccine dose and boosters from six months to four.

That would mean 82 per cent of vaccinated New Zealanders would be due for a booster by February.

New Zealand also would change the period spent in state quarantine facilities 10 days, up from a week.

Originally published as Omicron updates: Jetstar, Virgin flight axe sparks Christmas travel chaos