Virgin launches "Pride Flight" to celebrate pride festival

Virgin Australia has launched a special flight to mark Sydney’s Pride Festival, featuring mid-air drag performances and DJ entertainment. The service, from Brisbane to Sydney on Friday, 5th March, will be hosted by cabin crew member and “Sydney drag royalty” Penny Tration. “Arm doors and cross-check, we’re about to take fabulous flying to a whole new level,” she said. “I’ve been flying with Virgin Australia for 14 years and it’s an honour to show Australia just how proud we are and we’re literally putting the most fabulous flight in the air and I can’t wait.”
Chief people officer, Lisa Burquest, said, “A number of our team members identify as LGBTQ+, and we embrace the challenge to not only create an inclusive organisation where everyone can be their true self at work, every day, but an organisation that is representative of the communities in which we live, work and fly – the Pride Flight is a testament to that.
“Pride Flight is about supporting the LGBTQ+ community and we’re going to have a lot of fun with it. Tickets are only $150 for Economy one-way and $350 for Business Class one-way and like all Virgin Australia flights, the ticket comes with baggage, seat selection and Velocity Frequent Flyer Points.” The special flight follows an Air New Zealand flight hosting the premiere of a documentary on Kiwi rock band Six60, and a Qantas ‘flight to nowhere.

Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade: Saturday 6 March 2021
Take your seats for a spectacular celebration of pride, protest, passion and diversity. This is Mardi Gras like you’ve never seen it before, in one of Sydney’s most iconic venues – the Sydney Cricket Ground. Join the stadium audience of 46,000 families, friends and allies, where you’ll witness a colourful cavalcade starring 5,000 paraders from over 100 LGBTQI+ community groups. The 2021 Parade will take inspiration from its past and move away from large floats, focusing instead on the outlandish pageantry of vibrant costumes, puppetry and props that made it such a phenomenon in its earliest years. After the spectacular Parade, come and enjoy the night with us… and over 12,000 of our newest and closest friends! The Mardi Gras Party is Australia’s biggest LGBTQI event of the year. It’s our tribe, our people… our time to let loose and dance all night.