Australia Wants to Ensure There Are Two Airlines After Shutdown

The Australian government is in contact with Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd. management and wants to make sure there is a competitive airline industry when people are allowed to start traveling again after the coronavirus pandemic.

Australian travelers 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 Ltd. have been forced to ground flights and furlough workers even as the government has pledged A$715 million ($454 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.”

Restrictions imposed by the government are costing the tourism industry about A$4 billion in lost business from international visitors and around A$5 billion from domestic travelers each month, the Sydney Morning Herald reported, citing the Tourism and Transport Forum. Virgin Australia has asked the government for a A$1.4 billion loan to cope with the shutdown.

As of 6 a.m. in Sydney, Australia had 6,289 confirmed cases of coronavirus after adding 51 in the previous 24 hours, according to the government. About 357,000 tests have been conducted and there have been 57 deaths from Covid-19 infections.