Virgin Australia will increase its capacity on its domestic network by early July. The increases see Virgin adding 300,000 seats across 320 flights per week.
In addition to the increased flights, Virgin will be introducing a new set of safety and wellbeing procedures.
Increase in Flights
The increase in flights comes as travel restrictions across Australia are relaxed. In addition, they follow the extension of the government underwriting various domestic routes.
The changes offer two main benefits. Firstly, there is an increase in capacity and frequency on some routes. Secondly, it also sees the resumption of services between various cities. Some of the highlights of the new schedule include:
- Expanded capital city connections and frequencies between Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth
- Resumption of services between Brisbane-Adelaide, Brisbane-Canberra, Brisbane-Perth, and Sydney-Perth
- More flexibility to travel with increased frequencies on intrastate Queensland and Western Australia routes
From July, there will be more intrastate flights within Queensland and Western Australia. This is good news for those that were wishing to travel during the school holidays. While the current state border restrictions hamper interstate travel, it opens up options for people travelling within these states.
In addition, there will additional flights between Perth and the east coast of Australia. This comes even though there are travel restrictions on entering Western Australia.
Similarly, Virgin will reinstate services between Brisbane and Canberra/Adelaide. Again, this comes despite border restrictions across various states.
The following map shows the new Virgin Australia domestic route map.
Health and Wellbeing Measures
From 12 June 2020, Virgin Australia will also be implementing a comprehensive new set of safety and wellbeing measures. These measures spread across both the airport and on-board experience.
These measures include pre-departure eligibility and health screening, contactless check-in, more frequent cleaning onboard and at the airport, and expanded social distancing measures.
However, if you hope that means the middle seats will be blocked on every flight, you may be disappointed. Virgin will endeavour to provide empty seats beside passengers, but this will not always be possible.
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