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1 April, 2020

NO JOKE: Virgin Australia flips April Fool’s with huge toilet paper donation

April Fool’s Day icon Virgin Australia has forgone its usual trickery to turn this year’s prank into a reality.

The airline has become infamous for its annual April Fool’s Day prank, from trying to take on Uber Eats with Fly Foods to promising canine inflight crew members. But this year, they’ve tried out something a little different.

Considering the countrywide mass shortages of toilet paper in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Virgin will rescue thousands of toilet paper rolls from 125 of its grounded aircraft and storage facilities and donate them to vulnerable members of the community via the airline’s community partners, including The Salvation Army.

2020, you’ve fooled all of us, so this #AprilFoolsDay we’re turning our prank into a reality. We’re collecting all the unused 🧻 from our grounded ✈️ to donate to those in need. For every roll collected, @Kleenex will match the donation, so we’ve got your back(side)😉 pic.twitter.com/Bx01MexOji
— Virgin Australia (@VirginAustralia) March 31, 2020

“We are known for pranking travellers each year with April Fool’s Day announcements, but we’ve decided that this year, we’ve all been punked enough by 2020,” Virgin Australia’s general manager of product and customer, Sarah Adam, said.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has required us to temporarily reduce our flying schedule and ground 125 aircraft, which means there is a lot of toilet paper not being used, and we want to ease some of the stress that so many Australians are currently facing.

“Each year, our passengers use enough toilet paper to stretch from Sydney to Los Angeles, so we’re thrilled that in true Virgin spirit, we’re going to help the elderly, the vulnerable, medical staff, and our charity partners, by giving them the supply of toilet paper that’s currently locked up in our grounded aircraft and storage facilities throughout Australia.

“On a day where the world usually anticipates what April Fool’s tricks brands might play, we couldn’t be happier to not be punking anyone today and spreading some toilet paper goodness to those who need it most.”

For every toilet paper roll that’s rescued, Kleenex will match the donation, ensuring that a number of thousand toilet paper rolls reach communities around the country.

However, that’s not all the airline has been up to in order to keep spirits high.

Earlier this week, Virgin staff performed a dance routine on the tarmac to farewell the last of its international departures from Brisbane airport.

You can watch the joyful dance routine to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin'” below.

Brisbane International! What an amazing send off to our last international departure (for a little while). Thank you team for keeping our spirits high! We can't wait to see what the welcome back party looks like. pic.twitter.com/HASgjPD4Ri
— Virgin Australia (@VirginAustralia) March 30, 2020

Last week, Virgin’s Sydney Airport staff teamed up with employees from Jetstar and Regional Express to prove you can still have fun while practising social distancing by dancing along in unison to the Tina Turner hit “Nutbush City Limits”.

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Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

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