Virgin ramps up crew, planes and flights in comeback push

Virgin has pledged to fly to Bali and the Pacific Islands as soon as borders open, as the airline maps a pathway out of the Covid crisis.

Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka at Sydney domestic airport. Picture: Britta Campion

Virgin Australia will relaunch flights to Bali and Fiji as soon as international borders reopen despite taking a more cautious approach with the trans-Tasman bubble.

Almost a year after the airline went into administration with debts of $7bn, chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka announced a major ramp-up in the fleet and crew on Thursday.

The former Jetstar CEO said an additional 370 cabin crew were being recruited to staff 10 more aircraft, as Virgin increased its domestic presence in response to growing demand.

Short haul international flying would follow when borders reopened, with Ms Hrdlicka nominating Bali and the Pacific Islands as Virgin’s first routes.

“For New Zealand we’ve committed to scheduled flights from September but the short-haul international market which includes the Pacific Islands and Bali, as soon as the border opens we’ll be into those markets,” Ms Hrdlicka told Radio National on Thursday.

The decision to postpone New Zealand flights from June was made in the expectation the trans-Tasman bubble would likely close and reopen in the early days, and to focus on rebuilding domestic services, Ms Hrdlicka said.

With 10 more 737s being leased by the airline, the airline was expected to operate more than 1000 return services a week by October focusing on key leisure and business routes.

“People stopped flying for the better part of nine months (last year) and it’s our job as an industry to get people back in the air and help the tourism economy get back up and running,” said Ms Hrdlicka.

She predicted airfares would remain “as cheap as they had been for some time yet” to help stimulate travel.

Domestic airfare data compiled by the federal government showed discount economy prices in April sank to their lowest level in two-years, at 57.4 per cent of the long-term average.

Business class travel was also significantly more affordable at 65.4 per cent of the average, an eight-year low.

The recruitment of cabin crew would begin immediately with 220 former employees of Tigerair and Virgin’s long haul international arm, already signing on to return to the carrier.

Another 150 were being sought, with all to undergo two months training before commencing work.

It is a significant turnaround for the carrier which only emerged from administration six months ago under new owners, Bain Capital.

Since then, the US private equity firm has streamlined Virgin Australia’s fleet to all Boeing 737 line-up, axed 3000 employees and repositioned the airline in the middle of the market, in an effort to appeal to leisure travellers and cost-conscious business passengers.

Ms Hrdlicka said Virgin continued to see positive signs of consumer recovery now that domestic border closures appeared to be a “thing of the past”.

“As an example of this we’ve had multiple record-breaking sales days of half-priced fares with more than 75 per cent of the tickets booked for travel from May onwards,” said Ms Hrdlicka.

“All of this will provide much needed certainty for hundreds of our team members who through no fault of their own were require to give up their jobs because of the pandemic. We are thrilled to be able to welcome many of them back to Virgin Australia.”

As well as increasing frequency on domestic routes, Virgin has partnered with Alliance Aviation to operate Brisbane-Alice Springs, and Brisbane-Mt Isa flights from Monday April 19.

It was also confirmed on Thursday that Virgin Australia Regional Airlines would continue to operate, flying select services out of Perth, using an A320.