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Virgin Australia Expands Its Workforce Again

A Virgin Australia Boeing 777 in Los Angeles. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)

Virgin Australia has revealed its expansion scheme by hiring new employees and enhancing its domestic services in July. The airline says it will create 250 new jobs over the coming months, which will include pilots, baggage handlers and specialist IT and technical services staff.

“Growing confidence in the community, thanks to the vaccination rollout and domestic borders staying largely open, means this time is right for us to bring back jobs and put more aircraft in the skies,” Jayne Hrdlicka, Virgin Australia’s chief executive, said.

The carrier has introduced five new domestic routes: Sydney – Darwin; Sydney – Townsville; Adelaide – Cairns;  Melbourne – Townsville and Perth – Cairns. In addition, it will add more than 700 extra weekly flights across the country by October.

In the meantime, Virgin Australia will expand its “triangle” services. The weekly service connecting Sydney with Melbourne will increase to 163 return flights per week by October; Sydney to Brisbane will increase to 104 return flights per week and Melbourne-Brisbane will increase to 84 return weekly flights.

Last month, the airline has announced that it will improve its domestic services by adding 10 additional Boeing 737-800 and hire 150 new cabin crew. Meanwhile, it has brought 220 staff back to the skies.

However, the pandemic is far from over. Earlier, the Australian government announced that the country’s border will remain closed until mid-2022. The government said, “inbound and outbound international travel is expected to remain low through to mid-2022, after which a gradual recovery in international tourism is assumed to occur.”

Scott Morrison, Prime Minister of Australia said “it is still not safe to allow residents fully-vaccinated for Covid-19 to travel overseas,” per the Daily Mail.

“But the reality is we are living this year in a pandemic that is worse than last year,” Morrison added. The government has planned to fully vaccinate its citizens by the end of the year.

In response to the announcement, Hrdlicka has demanded the government reopen the border sooner otherwise the country will be left behind. She believed the country should learn how to live with the virus and said “Covid will be part of the community.”

“Some people may die, but it will be way smaller than with the flu.” Hrdlicka has made a controversial remark.

Earlier, the airline determined to enhance its domestic services and defer its international services. According to the airline, the current travel demand to New Zealand remains “subdued,” except for flights to Queenstown.

Before the government’s close border announcement, the airline said that it will push back its short-haul international service to Fiji, Vanuatu, Samoa and the Solomon Islands for the time being.

“While we know some Australians are itching to travel overseas, it is clear that international travel won’t return to normal as quickly as first anticipated,” Alistair Hartley, the airline’s Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer said.

Currently, Australia has a travel bubble with New Zealand but is closed the majority of international travel.

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