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Virgin Australia Pauses Fiji And Bali Restart Until At Least December

Virgin Australia Group (VA) has announced changes to its short-haul international network in response to shifting international border projections following Tuesday's federal government budget announcement.

Virgin Australia Group (VA) has announced changes to its short-haul international network in response to shifting international border projections following Tuesday’s federal government budget announcement.

Forecasts released in this week’s Federal budget outline new predictions for the aviation sector, including for international travel, where visitation is expected to remain low until at least mid-2022.

As a result, Virgin Australia has announced that it will defer the restart of most of its short-haul international flying, including to Fiji and Indonesia, until at least December 2021.

The move follows the Qantas Group who yesterday announced they would be moving back their proposed international flight restart date (excluding trans-Tasman bubble flights) from the end of October to the end of December 2021.

VA Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer Alistair Hartley said the new forecast for international travel has required Virgin Australia to reassess its network as well as give customers plenty of notice of any changes to their travel plans.

“While we know some Australians are itching to travel overseas, it is clear that international travel won’t return to normal as quickly as first anticipated,” said Mr Hartley.

“We’re being realistic about restarting short-haul international flying, and have today delayed services to the Pacific, and to Bali, Indonesia until at least December.

virgin bali darwin launch2
Virgin’s Darwin to Bali service launched in April 2019. Image: Tourism NT

Continued efforts by State and Federal Government’s to refine trans-Tasman travel arrangements will however allow the airline to operate Boeing 737 services between Sydney-Queenstown and Brisbane-Queenstown, as planned from 18 September 2021, and Melbourne-Queenstown services from 7 December 2021.

“Although we’ve seen positive developments with the trans-Tasman travel bubble and Governments working exceptionally well to manage outbreaks, current demand for travel to New Zealand remains subdued, except for Queenstown, where customers are looking to travel over the September school holidays and the upcoming summer. All other New Zealand services will be deferred for the time being,” said Mr Hartley.

Because current demand for other New Zealand destinations remains subdued, VA will defer them from sale alongside services to Vanuatu, Samoa and the Solomon Islands for the time being.

Lake Pukaki, Cantebury
Lake Pukaki, Cantebury

While the international travel outlook remains uncertain, VA says domestic travel continues to go from strength to strength, thanks in part to the federal governments ‘half-price fares’ and aviation support package.

VA says customers impacted by the changes will be contacted directly and provided with options to obtain a full refund to the original form of payment or a credit for future travel.

“We are continually reviewing our network to respond to the latest advice, and importantly looking at whether we can restart short-haul international flying, including to New Zealand earlier, should travel demand improve and circumstances change,” said Mr Hartley.

“Doing the right thing for our customers remains at the heart of our decision making, and while the impact is relatively low due to ongoing border uncertainty, we are working to provide affected customers with alternative options as quickly as possible.”