REVEALED: All the flight routes to be slashed by Virgin Australia as new owners move to claw back cash
- Virgin Australia has axed several regional routes due to plummeting demand
- Border closures and travel uncertainty are impacting the airline's operations
- A decision to operate with only Boeing 737s also made some routes unviable
Virgin Australia has slashed a number of regional air routes as a result of plummeting demand.
The embattled airline has announced its flight schedule for the near future as it grapples with domestic border closures and drastically reduced passenger numbers.
Virgin Australia was thrown a lifeline by Bain Capital on Friday as the private equity firm officially took over as the airline's new owner.
But the company is stripping back its flights to try and balance the books after coronavirus dealt its finances a crippling blow.
Virgin Australia has slashed a number of regional air routes as a result of plummeting demand
A spokesperson for Virgin Australia told Daily Mail Australia the changes are the result of huge uncertainty for the travel industry.
'We have made the decision to withdraw services from Ayers Rock, Albury, Tamworth, Hervey Bay, Port Macquarie, Mildura and Cloncurry for the foreseeable future,' the spokesperson said.
The airline isn't currently running any flights to six of the regional routes mentioned, but will be removing them entirely from their future booking system.
The changes have also been prompted by the fact the airline is restructuring its fleet to mainly use Boeing 737s, which would be too expensive to run on the routes due to the lack of demand.
The airline will not be running flights between Sydney and Uluru (pictured)
Flights from Sydney to Hervey Bay (pictured) in Queensland have also been removed from flight schedules
Virgin Australia said it will continue to review and make changes to services as borders reopen and demand grows.
'We remain committed to regional Australia and we plan to continue to fly to 20 regional destinations in Australia,' the airline said.
'We will contact affected guests who booked with us to advise them of their options. Guests who booked with a travel agent will need to contact them directly.'
The airline also intends to bring back flights to Port Macquarie in northern NSW when it can.
Virgin Australia said the discontinued routes were already underperforming prior to COVID-19.
Flights between Brisbane and Cloncurry (pictured) will no longer be operating
The Melbourne to Mildura service (pictured) has been deemed unviable due to plummeting demand
Bain Capital's takeover came after the company was placed into voluntary administration in April and sacked around 3,000 workers.
Virgin Australia has been struggling to stay afloat due to border closures and travel bans (pictured: passengers prepare to board a Virgin flight betwen Brisbane and Darwin in August)
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