Virgin Australia’s domestic capacity fails to live up to expectations

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA: MARCH 8: commercial airliners from Virgin Airlines lined up on the tarmac on 8-3-2013 at Brisbane International Airport.

Virgin Australia has revealed its domestic capacity in January was 20 per cent lower than expected, as the airline moves to cut 350 head office jobs.

The carrier reported operating at 40 per cent of its pre-pandemic domestic capacity in January, missing its 60 per cent forecast by a wide margin, according to Reuters.

Virgin said the miscalculation was due to the state-based travel restrictions plaguing the Australian aviation industry following Sydney’s December outbreak.

The airline, which is now owned by Bain Capital, also announced it would axe up to 350 head office jobs in the next few months in line with the 3,000 job cuts flagged back in August.

“The challenging environment shows the need to finalise our restructuring and reduce costs in line with our simplified business model,” a Virgin spokeswoman told Reuters.

In January, the airline laid out a spate of changes to its executive leadership team to shape its post-administration future under new CEO Jayne Hrdlicka.

Many of the new appointments had previously worked with Hrdlicka when she ran Jetstar.

Travel Weekly has reached out to Virgin for comment.


Featured image source: iStock/Lakeview_Images

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