Virgin Australia axes every route but one

Virgin Australia reduces domestic flights to a single route as Qantas reveals 95 per cent drop in Easter travellers.

Grounded Virgin Australia aircraft parked at Brisbane Airport. Picture: Darren England/AAP

Virgin Australia will axe all but one domestic passenger route as it fights for survival in the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

The Brisbane-headquartered carrier will operate just one daily service between Sydney and Melbourne, in response to plunging demand after government calls for Australians to stay at home over Easter.

The move came after Qantas revealed it would carry 95 per cent fewer passengers this Easter compared to the same time last year, as restrictions intended to slow the spread of COVID-19 took a devastating toll on the travel industry.

Virgin Australia described the latest reduction to its flying schedule as “an adjustment”.

“As a result of government restrictions, less people are travelling and we have made changes to our schedule to reflect this,” said a Virgin Australia spokeswoman.

“We continue to operate a daily service between Melbourne and Sydney, provide cargo transport locally and overseas, and operate charter flights including those assisting the government in bringing Australians home.”

Virgin has appealed to the federal government for an urgent “statement of confidence” in the airline which is seeking a $1.4bn loan facility to help it see through the health crisis.

Meanwhile Qantas and Jetstar revealed they would fly about 32,000 people over the Easter break compared to 705,000 last year, a 95 per cent difference.

The figures include bookings for international repatriation flights scheduled over Easter to bring Australians back home from London, Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Auckland.

Subsidised by the federal government, the flights are believed to have attracted only a few hundred bookings despite each Qantas 787-9 having the capacity to carry 236 passengers.

Jetstar has completely suspended its international services, and both airlines are operating a greatly reduced schedule of domestic flights.

A Qantas spokesman said government travel restrictions meant demand had all but evaporated.

“With these travel bans in place, we’ve had some flights with only one or two passengers on board,” he said.

“That’s clearly not sustainable given the high costs of operating flights.”

Late Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said the government was taking “every possible action to maintain a strong and competitive aviation sector”.

He said he was speaking with airline executives regularly but gave no indication if the government would offer a lifeline to Virgin Australia.

“I acknowledge Qantas Group and Virgin Australia Group have significantly reduced their domestic and international services,” said Mr McCormack.

“We continue to talk to airline executives on a regular basis as we navigate this unprecedented situation.”

Mr McCormack said the government had already invested more than $1bn to support Australia’s aviation industry.

This support includes a $715 million package waiving fuel excise and government charges backdated to 1 February, $198 million to ensure the continued operation of essential flights into regional communities and $100 million to provide direct financial support to smaller regional airlines,” he said.

The $1500 fortnightly JobKeeper wage subsidy was also available across all sectors of the aviation industry, Mr McCormack added.

Qantas was set to operate more international charters for the federal government, to bring Australians home from Peru, Argentina and South Africa.

The flights would take place over the next week and fares were yet to be set.

“Qantas is happy to continue its work with the government to help bring Australians home during this global crisis,” said the spokesman.

Virgin Australia was also conducting repatriation flights to and from Los Angeles and Hong Kong on behalf of the government.

Seats can be booked on the airlines’ websites.

More than two-thirds of the Qantas and Jetstar workforce, or 20,000 people have been stood down until at least the end of May, and Virgin Australia has stood down 7000 and made another 1000 workers redundant.