Govt. of Australia to subsidize Virgin & Qantas domestic flights

Amidst the effects of coronavirus and its impact on the national economy, the Australian government has planned to underwrite domestic flights operated by Virgin Australia and Qantas. Sources claim that the move would help the government to regulate air links amongst capital cities as the country faces a sharp cut in capacity by airplane carriers.

Reportedly, Virgin had grounded all its domestic flights, except for a single return service from Sydney to Melbourne that operates six days a week. As for Qantas, it remains operational for each capital city along with its budget offshoot Jetstar, however, at a substantially lowered frequency caused by travel restrictions imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Speaking on the move, Michael McCormack, Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Federal Transport Minister, said that the authorities are coordinating with both Qantas and Virgin regarding domestic flights funding so that the routes between capital cities remain open.

The government needs to transport people from one capital city to another. These people mainly include those passengers who return from international flights to Australia that are forced to immediately go into quarantine for the next 14 days before returning back to their home city, said McCormack.

Reports claim that federal authorities have already given Virgin and Qantas permission to relaunch a limited international network that intends to fly stranded Australians back home. Evidently, the carriers would run 13 flights per week from Los Angeles, London, Auckland, and Hong Kong.

Apparently, placing more aircrafts on the runway, ready to fly, could massively boost the country's two major airlines that are currently going through a tough financial phase due to the heavily imposed travel restrictions placed to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

Incidentally, Qantas is also facing an allegation from its staff, accusing the company of failing to provide basic protective gadgets that could help protect them combat COVID19. Employees are looking to file a class action suit on the company, as over 59 employees tested positive for COVID19 along with some of their family members.

Source Credit: https://www.theage.com.au/business/companies/government-considers-subsidising-qantas-and-virgin-domestic-flights-20200413-p54jb8.html