Virgin Australia Passengers Up In November

MELBOURNE, Dec 30 (Bernama) -- Virgin Australia has reported a 3.5 percent increase in domestic passenger traffic in November, the month after rival Qantas Airway’s fleet was grounded, as part of an industrial dispute with unions. In a statement Friday, Virgin said it carried 1.42 million passengers around Australia in November, up from 1.37 million in the same month a year ago. By contrast, figures released by Qantas earlier this month showed the Flying Kangaroo experienced a 1.3 per cent decline in passenger numbers on its domestic network in November. Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce grounded the airline's entire operations on Oct 29. The grounding lasted two days. Virgin's monthly operating statistics showed the carrier grew passenger numbers by 3.7 per cent across its domestic and international operations in November. The number of passengers on its international network grew 5.1 percent in the month, the airline said. -- BERNAMA