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The Deputy Prime Minister spoke to both Qantas and Virgin over the Easter weekend about the possibility of the government subsidising a number of domestic flights to maintain air links between capital cities.
Virgin Australia ramped up its lobbying for a bailout by placing a full-page advert in Saturday’s Daily Telegraph warning of the dangers of a Qantas monopoly.
Qantas and Virgin will resume limited international flights to Australia from London, Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Auckland after agreeing to a repatriation deal with the government.
Rex has said it may not be able to transport COVID-19 testing samples from regional areas to capital cities for analysis unless it receives a government bailout.
Virgin Australia will cut flying in its domestic network by 90 per cent and has followed Qantas in standing down 8000 workers.
Virgin Australia’s chief executive has written to the competition watchdog to formally complain about Qantas’s recent attacks on his airline.
