Virgin Australia slashes international flights as it announces a cabin crew member contracted coronavirus
- Virgin Australia Airlines is scaling back on the number of its international and domestic flights amid declining demand for air travel in response to the coronavirus spread.
- The company said in a statement that it would cut overall capacity by 7.7% for the rest of the year and reduce the daily Sydney to Los Angeles flight to five times per week from early May.
- News of the company's flight cuts comes as the company announced that one of its cabin crew members tested positive for the disease after returning to Australia from overseas.
- In Australia, there have been 26 confirmed cases and three deaths.
Virgin Australia has announced it is scaling back on the number of its flights in response to a decline in demand for travel as the new coronavirus continues to spread around the world.
The new coronavirus, which causes a disease called COVID-19, has killed more than 4,700 people and infected more than 128,000 globally. In Australia, there have been 26 confirmed cases and three deaths.
The company said in a statement that it would cut overall capacity by 7.7% for the rest of the year.
"Over the past two weeks, the global travel industry has seen a significant decline in forward bookings due to the rapid spread of COVID-19 and consumer uncertainty surrounding overseas travel," Virgin Australia said.
Changes included reducing the daily Sydney to Los Angeles flight to five times per week from early May to early June.
A Brisbane to Tokyo flight that is set to launch in two weeks has been scaled back from daily to three times per week, and all Hong Kong flights have been cancelled since February.
Auckland to Tonga and Auckland to Rarotonga will cease operations in May and July respectively.
The company noted that domestic operations account for 88% of its passengers and 78% of its flight revenue.
News of Virgin Australia's flight cuts comes as the company announced that its customers may have been exposed to COVID-19 after one of its cabin crew members tested positive for the disease after returning to Australia from overseas.
"I can confirm we have a cabin crew member who has been diagnosed with coronavirus," Virgin Australia chief executive Paul Scurrah said, according to 7 News.
Virgin Australia did not confirm the country the person was returning from.
"I spoke to her not long ago. She's in good spirits and well, he said. "She recently came back from overseas and was feeling unwell and decided to self-report."
Scurrah said the company has followed the protocols laid out by local health authorities.
"That includes contacting any passengers who may have been on the plane," he said.
He did not disclose which flight the cabin crew member was aboard, and would not confirm if actor Tom Hanks, who is currently in Australia and has tested positive for coronavirus, was on the flight.
"It's a matter of privacy," he said.