June

2 June

Virgin Australia’s administrator announces he’s whittled down the four prospective bidders to two: Bain Capital and Cyrus Capital Partners. Deloitte’s Vaughan Strawbridge says both parties “are well-funded, have deep aviation experience, and see real value in the business and its future”. The decision means that private equity firm BGH Capital and US aviation company Indigo Partners are knocked out, ahead of a 30 June deadline for a binding agreement to be reached.

4 June

Qantas and Jetstar announce they are planning to add 300 more return flights per week by the end of June. The business also announces it could increase capacity “up to 40 per cent” by the end of July depending on demand and the lifting of state border restrictions. Qantas Group chief executive Alan Joyce says, “We know there is a lot of pent up demand for air travel and we are already seeing a big increase in customers booking and planning flights in the weeks and months ahead.” Currently, Qantas and Jetstar are operating just 5 per cent of pre-pandemic capacity but the June increase will shift that up to 15 per cent.