Northern Territory unlikely to escape drastic Qantas, Jetstar flight cuts

IT is unlikely the Northern Territory will escape drastic cuts to Qantas and Jetstar services announced today in response to the worsening coronavirus crisis

It is unlikely the Northern Territory will escape deep cuts to Qantas and Jetstar services which the national carrier announced today in response to the coronavirus outbreak. Picture: Mark Evans/Getty Images

WHAT impact further cuts to Qantas and Jetstar services will have on the Territory will be revealed later in the week.

The national carrier is cutting international capacity by around 90 per cent, and domestic capacity by around 60 per cent, until at least the end of May.

Qantas said demand for air travel is unlikely to recover for weeks, possibly months.

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A spokesman for Qantas said it is likely that all states or territories in Australia will be affected by the changes.

He said while the cuts are still being worked through it was unlikely the Northern Territory would escape them.

Qantas is grounding about 150 planes.

It follows the Federal Government’s advisory against non-essential overseas travel, and the announcement of a mandatory two-week self-isolation period for returning travellers.

Around 30,000 employees will be affected and will be managed with a mix of paid and unpaid leave.

The cuts to routes come on top of previously announced changes to services.

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In a statement, the airlines said despite the deep cuts, the national carrier’s critical role in transporting people and goods on key international, domestic routes will be maintained.

“The Qantas Group is working to manage this impact as much as possible, including through the use of paid and unpaid leave,” the company said in the statement.

Qantas and Virgin Australia are waiving cancellation fees and offering travel credit to passengers whose travel plans have been impacted by travel restrictions caused by coronavirus.

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Qantas has told passengers they can cancel domestic and international flights booked up to May 31 and retain the value as travel credit.

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“We understand that many people’s travel plans have been impacted by the spread of coronavirus and various government travel restrictions,” the airline said.