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    Home»News»Airline News»Government extends support to Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin
    Airline News

    Government extends support to Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin

    MarkBy MarkJune 7, 2020No Comments4 Mins Read

    The federal government is extending a number of programs aimed at the aviation sector. As a result, Qantas, Jetstar, and Virgin will be able to maintain a minimal network, underwritten by the government.

    Firstly, the Domestic Aviation Network Support will be extended to 30 September. As a result, airlines will be able to maintain connections between the major cities.

    Secondly, the Reginal Aviation Network Support program will be extended to 31 December. The extension of this program will allow a minimal regional service to be operated until that date.

    [Previous]

    Qantas, Jetstar, and Virgin will resume limited flying from 17 April, to form what the government calls a Minimum Domestic Network.

    As travel restrictions across the country have made their operations commercially unviable, the three airlines significantly cut their schedules on Good Friday. For example, in the case of Virgin, they had reduced to a single daily return flight between Sydney and Melbourne.

    To allow travellers, such as essential workers, the ability to get to where they need to be, the government is underwriting a number of flights. The $165 million package will be split between Virgin and the Qantas Group. In total it will see Virgin operate 64 return flights a week. Over at Qantas, the group will operate 164 flights per week.

    Overall, the minimum domestic network sees connections between the capital cities, together with a number of regional centres.

    Virgin Australia Minimum Domestic Network

    Virgin was first out of the blocks, so we’ll start there. Tickets have now gone on sale, for flights for eight weeks from tomorrow. That means they will be operating the schedule between 17 April and 7 June 2020.

    Virgin has published the following map showing their network:

    Virgin Minimal Domestic Network
    Virgin Minimal Domestic Network

    Specifically, the network offers the following routes:

    Melbourne

    • Adelaide (three return services per week)
    • Brisbane (seven return services per week)
    • Canberra (three return services per week)
    • Perth (seven return services per week)
    • Sydney (seven return services per week)

    Brisbane

    • Melbourne (seven return services per week)
    • Sydney (seven return services per week)
    • Cairns (three return services per week)
    • Mackay (five return services per week)
    • Rockhampton (three return services per week)
    • Townsville (three return services per week)

    Sydney

    • Melbourne (seven return services per week)
    • Brisbane (seven return services per week)
    • Gold Coast (three return services per week)

    Canberra

    • Melbourne (three return services per week)

    Adelaide

    • Melbourne (three return services per week)

    Perth

    • Melbourne (seven return services per week)
    • Broome (three return services per week)
    • Port Hedland (two return services per week)
    • Newman (two return services per week)
    • Karratha (two return services per week)
    • Kununurra (two return services per week)
    • Kalgoorlie (two return services per week)

    Qantas Minimum Domestic Network

    For its part, Qantas will operate the following:

    Trunk Routes:

    Sydney to

    • Adelaide
    • Brisbane
    • Canberra
    • Melbourne
    • Perth

    Melbourne to

    • Adelaide
    • Brisbane
    • Canberra
    • Hobart
    • Perth

    Regional

    New South Wales

    • Albury – Sydney
    • Armidale – Sydney
    • Ballina – Sydney
    • Coffs Harbour – Sydney
    • Dubbo – Sydney
    • Lord Howe Island – Sydney
    • Tamworth – Sydney
    • Wagga Wagga – Sydney

    Victoria & Tasmania

    • Melbourne – Mildura
    • Melbourne – Launceston

    Queensland

    Brisbane to

    • Cairns
    • Emerald
    • Gladstone
    • Mt Isa
    • Longreach
    • Mackay
    • Moranbah
    • Roma
    • Rockhampton
    • Townsville

     

    Cairns

    • Horne Island
    • Townsville
    • Weipa

     

    and

    • Cloncurry – Mt Isa
    • Cloncurry – Townsville
    • Charleville – Roma
    • Mt Isa – Townsville
    • Mackay – Rockhampton
    • Mackay – Townsville
    • Townsville – Rockhampton

     

    South Australia

    Adelaide to

    • Kangaroo Island
    • Port Lincoln
    • Whyalla

     

    Northern Territory

    • Alice Springs – Darwin
    • Alice Springs – Sydney
    • Brisbane – Darwin

     

    Western Australia

    • Newman – Perth
    • Broome – Perth
    • Geraldton – Perth
    • Kalgoorlie – Perth
    • Learmonth – Perth
    • Port Hedland – Perth
    • Karratha – Perth

    Thoughts

    It is good to see the government step in and provide a basic service. But do note that these flights are really for ‘essential’ travellers, or people that have been stranded out of state.

    If you don’t have a reason to fly, you shouldn’t really be taking these flights. But if you do need to fly, at least there are some more options now.

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    Mark

    Mark, the founder of Fly Stay Points, caught the travel bug early in life. During his travels, he eventually came to stumble upon loyalty programs, He first discovered the world of airline frequent flyer programs, and later hotel loyalty programs. He is always plotting his next adventure - and this includes working out how to leverage the loyalty programs. It is a constantly evolving world. Promotional opportunities come and go. Airlines come and go. New hotels open, old hotels change brands, and on it goes. FlyStayPoints was started as a way to try to keep on top of all this. Keep track of promotions. Understand the changes in the marketplace.

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