Virgin Won’t Mandate Vaccinations For Domestic Passengers

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A Virgin Australia 737, VH-YFZ, flies past Melbourne’s air traffic control tower. (Victor Pody)

Virgin Australia has confirmed it will not mandate vaccinations for its passengers on domestic flights.

Chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka said on Thursday the issue was a “matter for government” but it would follow any rules implemented by states.

The business previously revealed it would make COVID jabs mandatory for customer-facing staff by 15十一月 and office-based employees by 31 March.

Speaking at the Flight Centre’s Illuminate conference, Hrdlicka called the decision “difficult” because the company can only have certainty over its own staff.

“I suspect some states will require only vaccinated travellers to move between states, and we will absolutely support any government requirement,” Hrdlicka said.

“But it’s not on us to mandate that ourselves. It’s really a matter for the government. So, we stand ready to implement and we think it makes sense to do that. We stand ready to work with the governments on how to make that practical and realistic.”

Hrdlicka added that the situation would likely be different for international travel, where COVID jabs would be “a must-have”.

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Vaccinations are set to be effectively mandatory for travelling into Australia next month, with NSW scrapping the expensive hotel quarantine for those who have been fully inoculated against coronavirus from 1 November.

Hrdlicka previously hailed jabs as “the only way back to normal freedom of movement” and the “only solution to the situation Australia currently finds itself in”.

“我们维珍澳大利亚航空的大部分团队已经接种了疫苗，我们将听取团队成员的意见，以确保我们找到最适合我们组织的政策，”她说。

“我们知道一些团队成员对疫苗接种有疑问和担忧。通过由合格专家开展的内部教育活动，我们的目标是让尽可能多的团队成员了解情况并确保他们的安全。

“We trust medical experts, their advice and the evidence that shows that vaccines save lives and reduce hospitalisation rates.”

The business said a recent survey of team members found that over 75 per cent of frontline staff had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, with another 9 per cent registered.

Victoria has already opened its border to NSW, but only to fully vaccinated residents.

Those meeting the requirements will also not have to take a test or quarantine as Greater Sydney was downgraded from a red to orange zone, as part of its traffic light system.