Virgin Australia says it has experienced a surge in website traffic and booking demand following the Victorian and Queensland governments’ roadmap to re-opening borders.
Website traffic to www.virginaustralia.com soared over 100 per cent on Monday, following the Queensland Government’s announcement that the state’s border would begin a phased reopening for fully vaccinated travellers from November 19, with the airline recording a 134 per cent increase in overall bookings.
Similarly, on Sunday, bookings on services between Melbourne-Sydney doubled following the Victorian Government announcement that fully vaccinated NSW residents will be able to enter the state from October 20.
Virgin Australia reported that the most popular flights booked on Monday in both directions were:
- Melbourne-Brisbane/Brisbane-Melbourne
- Brisbane-Cairns/Cairns-Brisbane
- Melbourne-Gold Coast/Gold Coast-Melbourne
- Melbourne-Sunshine Coast/Sunshine Coast-Melbourne
- Brisbane-Townsville/Townsville-Brisbane
The airline says these results show that travellers are confident to book ahead, with nearly half of all bookings made on Monday being for travel during December and January.
Virgin Australia also said that travellers are increasingly using their Velocity Frequent Flyer points to book flights with the loyalty program recording a 150 per cent increase on redemption bookings on Monday, which was the single largest day for Points spending since June 2021.
“Virgin Australia welcomes the arrangements foreshadowed by the Victorian and Queensland Governments to re-open their states to interstate travellers once vaccination thresholds are met,” a Virgin Australia Group spokesperson said.
“Already we can see travellers are excited by the prospects of flying again, which has been evident by the significant uplift in website traffic and bookings.
“Virgin Australia will continue to review our schedule and add flights in line with demand as travel restrictions ease.”
The airline says it is also continuing to give travellers booking flexibility, with the extension of its Flexible Flying policy for travel to 30 April 2021.
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