Virgin Australia has decided to can its budget offshoot as part of a rebrand under new ownership.
New owners of Virgin Australia, Bain Capital, have announced they are discontinuing its discount sister airline, Tigerair. The decision is expected to see 3,000 Virgin Airline staff made redundant, which equates to approximately one-third of the airline’s total workforce.
Bain Capital made the announcement this morning in an official statement.
“Due to impacts related to COVID-19, the Tigerair Australia brand has been discontinued. Customers affected by the announcements made today will be contacted directly. Tigerair Australia customers will be provided a travel credit at equivalent value for use on Virgin Australia operated services,” it read.
The loss of Tigerair means that Australia will now have just one budget airline, Qantas’ low-cost offshoot, Jetstar. However, Virgin Australia will retain Tigerair’s Air Operator Certificate to keep the option of a future relaunch on the table.
“Tigerair Australia’s Air Operator Certificate (AOC) and the resources necessary to support the AOC will be retained to support optionality to operate an ultra-low-cost carrier in the future when the domestic market can support it,” announced Virgin Australia to its shareholders this morning.
The airline says it plans to bring back up to 8,000 jobs in the future, if the travel industry recovers.https://t.co/dz7yn4Vr8H
— Business Insider Australia (@BIAUS) August 5, 2020
For more information, visit the Tigerair website.
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