Virgin Australia has made waves with its announcement today of plans to introduce pets in cabin flights, a first for Australia.

The initiative is poised to cater to the growing demand from pet owners who wish to travel with their furry companions.

This service, pending regulatory approval, is anticipated to commence within the next 12 months, potentially revolutionising the way Australians travel with their pets.

Aiming to gauge public interest, Virgin Australia conducted surveys among its Facebook followers and Australian pet owners, with an overwhelming majority expressing enthusiasm for the concept.

The proposed service will be limited to small cats and dogs on specific domestic routes, ensuring the comfort and safety of all passengers.

The airline will charge a fee for the service, which is yet to be disclosed.

Pets will be confined to designated rows and required to remain in approved carriers under the seat in front of their owners throughout the flight.

In a statement delivered at Melbourne Airport, Virgin Australia Group CEO, Jayne Hrdlicka, underscored the airline’s commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction.

She expressed excitement at the prospect of introducing pets in cabin flights, citing the strong desire among travelers to journey with their beloved pets.

“Our love for animals has always been in the Virgin Australia DNA, and we are excited at the prospect of taking off with Australia’s first-ever pets in cabin flights,” said Ms. Hrdlicka.

“Overwhelmingly, our guests tell us they want to travel with their pets, and we are now on a journey to make that a reality. It’s something that commonly happens overseas and is proven to work well.”

Stay tuned for further updates as Virgin Australia progresses towards realising its vision of making pet-friendly travel a reality for Australian passengers.

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Qantas has taken delivery of its first two Airbus A220 planes – with 27 more to come – which will replace the ageing fleet of Boeing 717s.

The Qantaslink A220s will fly between cities like Melbourne, Hobart, Brisbane and Canberra as well to key regional cities like Coffs Harbour and Launceston.

With double the range of the former 717s, the A220 can fly between any two points in Australia and to several offshore destinations, creating new route options in future.

Here are some of the key features of the new aircraft unveiled today:

• 10 business seats in a 2-2 configuration, with 37 inches of seat pitch
• 127 seats in economy in a 2-3 configuration with 30 inch pitch
• the largest windows of any single aisle aircraft and a cabin with a greater sense of space
• fast, free Wi-Fi
• an integrated personal device holder and USB A and C charging in both economy and business; additional wireless charging pad in business
• reduction in noise footprint of up to 50 per cent and reduction in carbon emissions of 25 per cent.

Here are some pics of the business class seats.

And here’s economy.

The first A220 commercial flights are on sale today for travel from 1 March 2024 on Melbourne-Canberra and Melbourne-Brisbane.

This will expand to Melbourne-Hobart from July 2024, Melbourne-Coffs Harbour from October 2024 and Melbourne-Launceston from November 2024 as more aircraft are delivered.

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Emirates is finally returning to Adelaide, with the announcement today that flights to Dubai will resume later this year.

From 28 October 2024, the route will be serviced by Emirates’ Boeing 777-200LR offering passengers business class (in a 2-2-2 layout) and economy class.

The flight will operate daily, with a 10.35 pm departure from Adelaide and arrival in Dubai at 5.15 am. The return leg departs Dubai at 2am and land in Adelaide at 8.50 pm.

These timings will enable easy connections to Europe, Africa and elsewhere.

SA Premier, Peter Malinauskas, welcomed the announcement, saying: “Reinstating Emirates flights to Adelaide has been a key priority for the State Government. Emirates once again flying daily direct into Adelaide will further drive South Australia’s economic growth – set to deliver an estimated $160 million in tourism expenditure and freight exports and create more than 315 full-time tourism-related jobs for South Australians.

“The Emirates service has been very much missed by South Australians – recommencing daily flights will make Adelaide easier to reach from key long-haul markets and make doing business with our state easier.”

Qantas Frequent Flyers will be able to earn points and status credits (moreso if booked as a QF codeshare) and use points to secure reward seats.

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Competition is set to heat up over the Pacific with the launch of a brand new Brisbane-Dallas route by American Airlines.

The oneworld carrier and Qantas partner will start flying between the two cities on 27 October, initially as a seasonal route – though hopefully we’ll see that extended if successful.

The airline will use a brand-new Boeing 787 Dreamliner on the route, which features its latest economy, premium economy and business class seats.

The plane’s premium-focused configuration means there will be just 244 seats, including 51 in business class, 32 in premium economy and 161 economy seats.

Dallas is a major hub for American Airlines and provides easy connections to cities across North America.

Qantas already flies from Melbourne and Sydney to Dallas, and from Brisbane to Los Angeles.

Queenslanders can also take advantage of United Airlines’ flights from Brisbane to San Francisco.

Qantas Points holders will be able to book reward seats on American’s new Brisbane-Dallas route if the airline makes them available. Tickets go on sale on 5 February, so we’ll find out then!

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Virgin Australia has today announced a significant expansion of its baggage tracking tool to include all domestic and international routes as well as additional tracking notifications for guests.

As part of the expansion of the tool, which previously only included a portion of the airline’s domestic network, customers can now track their baggage end-to-end via the Virgin Australia app, receiving push notifications when their baggage has been checked in, loaded onto the aircraft, transferred to a connecting carrier, and upon arrival.

The tool also advises the baggage carousel for collection once the guest is at their final destination.

The new ‘loaded’ feature, confirming the baggage has been loaded onto the aircraft, gives customers further visibility and peace of mind when travelling.

The tool is already proving to be popular, having been used more than 1.3 million times since it was first piloted in May 2023.

For passengers keen to use this feature, the process is:

1. Download the Virgin Australia mobile application.
2. Activate push notifications within the app.
3. Once enabled, a series of push notifications will be sent to your phone throughout the journey.

Virgin Australia Chief Customer & Digital Officer, Paul Jones, said: “Australians find comfort in the ability to track food deliveries, postal deliveries, technology, even their heart rate, all via apps, and it made sense for travellers to be able to do the same thing when flying Virgin Australia.”

“By further enhancing our Australian-first baggage tracking technology to include all international services and additional notifications, we are giving guests the peace of mind to know where their baggage is at every step of the journey,” said Mr Jones.

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Virgin Australia and Link Airways have announced a new codeshare partnership that will significantly expand Virgin Australia’s reach into regional Australia.

Seventeen new regional codeshare services operated by Link Airways, the equivalent of 90 flights per week, will be added to Virgin Australia’s domestic network under the partnership.

The flights will go on sale today through Virgin Australia’s travel agency partners and will be available to book directly on the Virgin Australia website from March.

The new routes are:

• Brisbane <> Coffs Harbour (BNE-CFS)
• Brisbane <> Bundaberg (BNE-BDB)
• Brisbane <> Biloela (BNE-ZBL)
• Brisbane <> Inverell (BNE-IVR)
• Brisbane <> Narrabri (BNE-NAA)
• Brisbane <> Dubbo (BNE-DBO)
• Brisbane <> Orange (BNE-OAG)
• Brisbane <> Tamworth (BNE-TMW)
• Brisbane <> Armidale (BNE-ARM)
• Brisbane <> Wollongong (BNE-WOL)
• Sydney <> Narrabri (SYD-NAA)
• Sydney <> Inverell (BNE-IVR)
• Melbourne <> Dubbo (MEL-DBO)
• Melbourne <> Orange (MEL-OAG)
• Melbourne <> Wollongong (MEL-WOL)
• Canberra <> Hobart (CBR-HBA)
• Canberra <> Newcastle (CBR-NTL)

Velocity Frequent Flyer members can earn points and status credits on these routes, with elite frequent flyers enjoying status perks like additional baggage allowance and lounge access.

Virgin Australia Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer, Alistair Hartley said: “Today’s announcement in partnership with Link Airways underscores our commitment to delivering great value, flexibility and choice to Australians, and boosting connections for customers living in regional Australia,” he said.

“Importantly, the partnership is also set to support regional trade and tourism in destinations like Inverell, Wollongong and Biloela, which are not currently serviced by any other major airline.

“Together, our networks will be operating up to 365 daily flights across Australia, offering 42 domestic destinations for guests to explore, all while ensuring guests can enjoy seamless connectivity and loyalty benefits under our award-winning Velocity Frequent Flyer program when they travel.”

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