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Routes to four popular international destinations will temporarily re-open to help bring stranded Australians home.
Qantas and Virgin Australia will mount a series of repatriation flights to London, Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Auckland as part of the Federal Government's push to bring home Australians who remain stranded overseas. The special flights will run across this month, and passengers will have to to pay their own airfares. It's been suggested that flights may depart Australia empty of passengers, with the government subsidising the cost of fuel and crew, although below decks the aircraft are expected to be loaded up with outbound cargo to assist the Australian export market, with imported freight and medical supplies on the return leg. Virgin Australia will run two flights a week between Brisbane and Hong Kong, on Mondays and Fridays, with one weekly flight between Brisbane and Los Angeles (departing LAX on Thursday) – both will operate on a Boeing 777-300ER.
Further details of the flights have not yet been released.
“We are continuing our constructive discussions with Qantas and Virgin on flights to less accessible destinations, including South America and the Pacific," says Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affairs, whose office led the initiative after Qantas and Virgin wound down all international flights last week.
Homeward bound
“Many Australians will be able to get to one of these four destinations. They can do so knowing there will be an Australian airline to get them home,” Payne adds. “We recognise that, in some cases, this will not be possible. We will continue to work closely with airlines and our overseas consular assistance network in these situations." “Where there are no commercial options available, the Government will consider supporting, on a case-by-case basis, non-scheduled services to other overseas destinations." Qantas has also been in discussions with the UK Government about flights to London, which were suspended last week following a brief re-routing from the long-standing Singapore stopover to Darwin. “We are liaising with Qantas to keep flights operational” noted Vicki Treadell, British High Commissioner to Australia, in an email sent on March 29 to British travellers still in Australia. “We are working tirelessly with airlines to ensure planes keep flying, as well as with the Australian Government and international partners to keep commercial routes to the UK open.”
Full story taken from here
https://www.executivetraveller.com/news/qantas-virgin-repatriation-flights-to-london-lax-hong-kong-nz
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