MELBOURNE

• Melbourne / Adelaide (three return services per week)

• Melbourne / Brisbane (seven return services per week)

• Melbourne / Canberra (three return services per week)

• Melbourne / Perth (seven return services per week)

• Melbourne / Sydney (seven return services per week)

BRISBANE

• Brisbane / Melbourne (seven return services per week)

• Brisbane / Sydney (seven return services per week)

• Brisbane / Cairns (three return services per week)

• Brisbane / Mackay (five return services per week)

• Brisbane / Rockhampton (three return services per week)

• Brisbane / Townsville (three return services per week)

SYDNEY

• Sydney / Melbourne (seven return services per week)

• Sydney / Brisbane (seven return services per week)

• Sydney / Gold Coast (three return services per week)

CANBERRA

• Canberra / Melbourne (three return services per week)

ADELAIDE

• Adelaide / Melbourne (three return services per week)

PERTH

• Perth / Melbourne (seven return services per week)

• Perth / Broome (three return services per week)

• Perth / Port Hedland (two return services per week)

• Perth / Newman (two return services per week)

• Perth / Karratha (two return services per week)

• Perth / Kununurra (two return services per week)

• Perth / Kalgoorlie (two return services per week)

Has that been confirmed?

Again is this been confirmed?

I am also a Velocity member i have 13,700 points.

I remember when I lost 150,000 Ansett points.

Yep, on news.com

This makes no sense at all! PM on TV today telling us the current lock down will continue for two more weeks then it will be reviewed. All of a sudden there is all this travel allowed. Can I now book a holiday?!

And if it wasn't for 9/11, Ansett would still be flying today? :hmm:

I don’t know how they will
do interstate services to Perth. The WA Premier has just said the WA borders will be closed for at least 6 months.

And where is this confirmed? Edit.. just saw it... looks like it is confirmed.

Ragnor,
There are other many other reasons to travel other than a holiday. For a start there a those who are just getting out of 14 days in quarantine in different states to where they live. Now they have a way to get home.

And regards to the WA boarder closure, you don’t need permission to leave the state, and if you have valid reasons (including compassionate) you can enter under permission.

Good call by the Govt and great to see that virgin will be involved.

Good news for everyone to get something moving

https://travel.virginaustralia.com/a...twork-schedule

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-...nsion/12155466

Something for everyone to collective high-5 about.

I am confused. VA state:

Book with confidence

We know there’s a lot of uncertainty with travel at the moment, so we want you to know we’ve got your back.

And then this appears:
We will always do our best to get you to your destination on time, however, we do not guarantee flight times or schedules and they do not form part of your contract with us.

What specialist thought of this. What is left of the contract then ?. Have they ever guaranteed flight time or schedules ?. Is this more Virgin poppycock ?

Qf say the same in their t and c. Nothing to see there. Happy flying. A bit of good news

Kick the can down the road a bit further...

Take the blinkers off you lot. This isn’t the white knight for VA. It’s a joint ‘break even’ operation with the government. There’s still $5 billion to sort out in debt, and VA OR QF aren’t to be making money out of this, purely to keep the nation & freight networks going. With border restrictions still in place at the moment can you honestly believe there’s a massive interest in travel tomorrow.....

Why did Virgin halt trading pending the release of this announcement when Qantas didn’t?

The trading halt has nothing to do with that announcement.

https://www.afr.com/politics/federal...0200415-p54jwd

Private equity investors circle over Virgin

At least two private consortia are circling to take over Virgin Australia, reducing pressure on the federal government to bail out the ailing airline.

Sources inside government and the aviation industry confirmed to The Australian Financial Review that one consortium involves a private equity investor partnered with a "a strategic airline investor".

The other is believed to be an investment bank partnered with an Australian infrastructure investor.
https://static.ffx.io/images/$zoom_0...8dab24a91c6fc4Virgin Australia's majority shareholders have refused to pour more money into the struggling airline. Bloomberg

While Qantas has the economic capacity to ride out the coronavirus-induced shutdown, Virgin has asked the government for a $1.4 billion loan to tide it over and threatened to tip the airline into voluntary administration if it does not receive help.

The government has refused, believing that will end up owning the airline that was already saddled with a $5 billion debt before the crisis struck. and that was seeking a loan worth more than twice its market capitalisation.
"We want to see two airlines in the domestic market but we're not in the business of owning an airline,'' Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said on Thursday.There are many market-based options that are currently being pursued, and I would wish those discussions every success.

— Prime Minister Scott Morrison
Prime Minister Scott Morrison alluded to the interest from private equity yesterday when also ruling out a government bailout.

"We appreciate the value of two competitive viable airlines in the Australian economy,'' he said.

"Any responses the Commonwealth government will have will be done on a
sector-wide basis, and that's the way we will continue to pursue those issues.

"I'm aware that there are many market-based options that are currently being pursued, and I would wish those discussions every success."

One Virgin source said it was not the company's preference to be taken over by "corporate raiders'' with little or no airline experience.

Virgin remains in a trading halt and has appointed UBS and Macquarie to drum up an equity injection or restructure. Virgin shareholders Etihad Airways, Singapore Airlines, Nanshan Group and HNA Group, who together own 80 per cent of the company, have refused to tip in fresh funds for the airline.

Two paths ahead

Without government support for Virgin, there are thought to be two ways that the Virgin situation could play out. One of those is through a pre-agreed deed of company arrangement, which would require agreement from unions and governments, and then cleans out unsecured creditors.

It would need creditor approval, which would likely include employees, frequent flyer point holders and more.

The other would be placing Virgin in voluntary administration, which would remove any certainty around who would end up owning the airline. This option might be less politically attractive.

It is understood that the interest from the private sector prefers Virgin going into voluntary administration, enabling new investors to restructure the debt and take control by removing or shaving down the existing shareholders.

This would enable the new owners to restructure the company into one that makes a profit. This could involve significant job losses.

BGH Capital is among the most speculated private equity firms for the asset. BGH's Ben Gray ran the local arm of private equity giant TPG when it bid jointly for Qantas. BGH declined to comment.