Coronavirus: Virgin Australia grounds international fleet as travel bans kick in

Virgin Australia had about 16 per cent of the transtasman market. Photo / Supplied

Virgin Australia has grounded all international services following Australian Government advice not to travel.

The airline will suspend all international services and make further cuts to our domestic network until June 14.

It had about 16 per cent of the transtasman market at the start of the year and says it will fly some services to New Zealand until March 22.

Other airlines, including Air New Zealand and Qantas, are slashing capacity due to expanded government travel restrictions and increased impacts from Covid-19 on travel demand. Formerly packed planes are now near empty with many no-show passengers giving up the seats they've paid for.

The coronavirus crisis is a particularly heavy blow for Virgin Australia which has been struggling financially for several years. Last year it reported a $320 million loss and had already begun laying off hundreds of staff last year.

It has hundreds of staff in New Zealand and in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange said the cuts would impact the company's workforce and the company was working with staff and unions.

The group was undertaking a range of measures to address the current situation including the use of accrued annual leave, leave without pay, redeployment and, in some circumstances, redundancies.

Virgin Australia said it would work closely with the Government to prioritise bringing Australians home and returning visitors back to their point of origin safely.

Impacted passengers will be contacted directly by email.

''We're doing everything we can to assist you as quickly as possible. If you have booked through a travel agent please liaise with them directly.''

The airline has had a number of passengers on planes who later have been confirmed to have coronavirus.

The flights which have had a confirmed coronavirus case onboard:

Flight Number- Departure Date - Route
VA682 - 2 March Perth to Melbourne
VA1394 - 3 March Brisbane to Adelaide
VA811 - 3 March Melbourne to Sydney
VA800 - 4 March Sydney to Melbourne
VA7 - 4 March Brisbane to Los Angeles
VA2 - 5 March Los Angeles to Sydney
VA24 - 5 March Los Angeles to Melbourne
VA24 - 6 March Los Angeles to Melbourne
VA833 - 6 March Melbourne to Sydney
VA516 - 7 March Gold Coast to Sydney
VA535 - 8 March Sydney to Gold Coast
VA2 - 9 March Los Angeles to Sydney
VA418 - 10 March Sydney to Adelaide
VA480 - 13 March Maroochydore to Sydney

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