Virgin Australia is temporarily no longer providing complimentary snacks to Economy class passengers on domestic flights. The airline has also stopped serving tea, coffee, juice and complimentary Happy Hour drinks in Economy class as part of a new “simplified” onboard food and beverage menu. This includes flights to and from Perth, where a full meal is usually served.
Instead, Virgin Australia guests flying in Economy class are now being offered only complimentary water. Additional snacks and drinks can be purchased from the buy-on-board retail menu.
Virgin Australia says that the temporary changes are a result of COVID-19 and reduced travel demand.
But it appears to be largely a cost-cutting move, as there are minimal health risks in serving individually packaged snacks to passengers.
Virgin normally advertises complimentary food and drinks for all passengers as a core part of its domestic service offering. But at a time like this, with many state borders closed and 90% of Virgin’s domestic flights cancelled, most passengers are unlikely to mind. Most of us currently have bigger things to worry about!
Virgin Australia says that normal catering will remain on charter flights.
Passengers are allowed to bring their own snacks onto Virgin flights. All Virgin Australia lounges are currently closed, but at most Australian airports, some stores remain open for take-away service.
If you’re flying in the coming weeks or months, you may consider burning some Velocity points or bidding for an upgrade. Business class passengers on domestic Virgin flights will continue to receive a complimentary meal and beverages. You can see what’s being served in Virgin Australia Business class on our dedicated AFF thread: Virgin Australia Business Class Catering – Service, Meal times, Menus
At the same time, Qantas has suspended in-flight meals on domestic services but continues to serve complimentary snacks and water on all flights.
