Thousands of Virgin Australia guests make their way north to Queensland on Dec. 1 as the Sunshine State throws open its borders to Victoria and all of New South Wales for the first time in months.
With the majority of Virgin Australia’s Queensland flights full, Virgin Australia announced that its lounges in Melbourne and Sydney will reopen on 15 December and follow the Brisbane Lounge which reopened last month. The Gold Coast lounge will also open soon.
Virgin Australia Group CEO and Managing Director, Jayne Hrdlicka said that Dec. 1 was a day of celebration for the Queensland-based airline, its people and travellers from the southern states.
“Queensland is our home, so it’s a particularly great day for Virgin Australia as we welcome so many of our loyal guests from Melbourne and Sydney back to the Sunshine State.
“We’re seeing strong demand throughout December across all of our Queensland services from Victoria and New South Wales, so we know many Australians have been itching to visit Queensland to reunite with their loved-ones or do business. The broader economic contribution that open borders will bring cannot be underestimated in what has been the most difficult year for many businesses, particularly in the tourism and hospitality industries.
“Historically the Golden Triangle* has been one of the busiest flight corridors in the world and with domestic travel volumes significantly increasing for these services, we will reopen our lounges in Melbourne and Sydney on 15 December, which will be welcome news for our loyal frequent flyer members and our Lounge staff.
“With open borders we can bring more of our people back to work to safely connect Australians with their families, which is the best Christmas present an airline CEO could have asked for in 2020.
“We have always advocated for the safe re-opening of borders and we thank the Queensland Government for their actions in helping to reconnect the nation ahead of Christmas,” Ms Hrdlicka said.
To give customers added confidence when booking, Virgin Australia is waiving applicable change fees and allowing unlimited booking changes for reservations with travel between now and 31 January 2021. The airline will further extend booking flexibility until 31 March 2021 should a customer’s travel plans be impacted by COVID-19. More information here.
*The Golden Triangle covers flights between Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.
