Australia keen to ensure there are 2 airlines after shutdown

Sydney

THE Australian government is in contact with Virgin Australia Holdings management and wants to make sure that there is a competitive airline industry when people are allowed to start travelling again after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Australian travellers are not expected to be able to head overseas until at least the end of this year, although there may be easing of restrictions on interstate movement in the months ahead, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Virgin Australia and larger rival Qantas Airways have been forced to ground flights and furlough workers even as the government has pledged A$715 million (S$641 million) to the sector, which is among the hardest hit by the virus spread.

"We want a two-airline sector coming out of this," Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said in an interview on Sky News. "We will continue to look at the situation." BLOOMBERG