April

Finally, Flight Centre Travel Group announces it will close 428 Australian stores by the end of July, or roughly 40 per cent of its network. However, the business has secured $900 million in fresh equity and debt to help it survive the coronavirus crisis.

9 April

Virgin Australia suspends all domestic services from 10 April, except one return flight between Sydney and Melbourne. Previously, the airline had reduced domestic capacity by 90 per cent, flying to just 19 destinations, and cancelled all international journeys. The business says in a statement, “As a result of government restrictions, less people are travelling and we have made changes to our schedules to reflect this. We continue to operate a daily service between Melbourne and Sydney, provide cargo transport locally and overseas, and operate charter flights including assisting the government in bringing Australians home.”

14 April

The Deputy Prime Minister says he’s spoken to both Qantas and Virgin over the Easter weekend about the possibility of the government subsidising a number of domestic flights to maintain air links between capital cities. Michael McCormack tells the ABC that while he will not put a figure on how much money could be made available, he “wouldn’t rule anything out”. In the last few days, reports emerge of Australians arriving back in the country, completing their 14-day hotel isolation, but then struggling to find flights across states to return home. Speaking on television on Monday morning, McCormack says, “We need of course to transfer people around from capital city to capital city. We’ll be looking at what we can do in conjunction with the airlines, who are co-operative.”

20 April

Sydney Airport’s international passenger traffic decreased 96 per cent in March and domestic 97 per cent, as coronavirus restrictions took effect, the business announces. Total traffic for the month of March, though, was 2 million passengers, down 45 per cent on the corresponding period last year. International traffic was just 700,000 and domestic 1.3 million.

21 April

Virgin Australia confirms that it has entered voluntary administration. Administrator Deloitte then confirms a number of investors are interested in saving the airline, saying there is “an extraordinary number of parties keen to be involved”. The business was struggling to service a $4.8 billion debt pile with little revenue coming in, and its attempts to secure a $1.4 billion loan from first the federal government, then states, failed.

22 April

Qatar Airways reveals that it carried more than 36,000 passengers to and from Australia in the first two weeks of April, as it capitalises on being one of the last airlines flying regular international routes. Worldwide, the business says it has taken more than 1 million passengers home since mid-February. Both Qantas and Virgin cancelled all international trips at the end of March, though they are undertaking a handful of chartered and government underwritten routes.

23 April

Tigerair reassures staff that they won’t be made redundant despite parent company Virgin Australia slipping into administration on Tuesday. In March, the business made all pilots at Tigerair redundant, leading to questions about its long-term future. The Flight Attendants Association of Australia says employees were “apprehensive rather than relieved. A lot of current Virgin and Tiger employees are ex-Ansett, so there’s a lot of trepidation”.

27 April

Perth Airport impounds four Virgin Australia aircraft with heavy machinery as it seeks to recover $16 million in outstanding invoices for airfield and terminal charges. It came as Deloitte administrator Vaughan Strawbridge reveals the airline’s total debt is $6.8 billion – far higher than previously reported. Creditors include 50 aircraft lessors, across 69 planes, owed $1.88 billion; 26 lenders with secured loans of $2.28 billion; and unsecured bond holders owed $1.98 billion. Strawbridge tells the Federal Court that working through those contracts constitutes a “very significant task” given the “ongoing uncertainty” around the nature of the leases and obligations.