Qantas helps strawberry growers in wake of needle contamination

Qantas is doing its bit to help embattled strawberry farmers in the wake of the damaging needle contamination crisis.

Qantas is doing its bit to help embattled strawberry farmers in the wake of the damaging needle contamination crisis. A special order for one tonne of strawberries — or the equivalent of 4000 punnets — has been placed by the airline. After being picked and trucked to Qantas’s Sydney flight kitchen, the strawberries will be chopped and turned into daiquiris and compote to be served in the airlines’ lounges and on selected flights this month.

Qantas have rallied their staff to chop up a tonne of strawberries to help growers.

Head of Qantas in-flight services Marcel Weissel-Nund said the idea of a special order came from a staff member. “There’s been a huge amount of support shown for Australian strawberry farmers and we’re proud to play our part,” he said. “As one of the largest buyers of Australian produce, we believe it’s important to stand with the industry and help avoid perfectly good fruit going to waste.”

● Passengers flying Singapore Airlines will continue to be wooed by Tourism Australia, thanks to a new three-year marketing deal worth $11 million. The agreement will see Singapore Airlines and TA jointly fund a range of tourism campaigns and promotional activities in eight of Australia’s key inbound markets, including Singapore, China, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia and Britain. Singapore Airlines’ executive vice-president commercial Mak Swee Wah said: “Singapore Airlines has been bringing visitors to Australia for over 50 years and the extension of this partnership with Tourism Australia will continue to be key in driving inbound travel through our hub in Singapore to this beautiful country.” Tourism Australia managing director John O’Sullivan said working closely with Singapore Airlines extended the reach of TA campaigns to help convert traveller interest into actual tourism bookings.

● As it prepares to cut ties with Air New Zealand, Virgin Australia is making travel across the Tasman more alluring for passengers. From October 28, Virgin travellers will earn more frequent-flyer and status points on trips to Auckland, Christchurch, Queenstown, Wellington and Dunedin. Passengers on all fares can also expect a decent meal and a drink on the flight, 15 minutes of free Wi-Fi and 23kg of checked in baggage at no extra cost. The offer is designed to stop passengers jumping ship to Air New Zealand and Qantas, which are teaming up from the end of the month, leaving Virgin Australia to go it alone on trans-Tasman routes.