Christmas Day plans are in ruins as flights are cancelled across the country.
COVID is ending the year strong by making sure Christmas is as difficult for everyone as possible.
Due to staff having to isolate, flights are being cancelled with little warning for people planning to spend Christmas with their interstate loved ones.
Among them is Blaize Tilley. “It’s not going to be good. I’m going to NSW to see my mum. I haven’t seen her in a couple years because of lockdown restrictions, so I’m hoping to see her this year” he told Nine News.
Today, Jetstar has cancelled ten flights between Melbourne and Sydney, while Virgin has cancelled twelve.
Upwards of twenty between Gold Coast, Adelaide and Brisbane have either been cancelled or rescheduled.
In total, at least eighty domestic flights have been cancelled, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.
Passengers were reportedly contacted about the cancellations as late as 9pm yesterday evening.
A Jetstar spokeswoman had this to say:
“We appreciate the frustration this causes, especially as customers are travelling for Christmas, and sincerely apologise for the impact these changes are having on travel plans”
“We are working to minimise any delays and re-accommodating passengers on flights as close as possible to their original departure times across both Jetstar and Qantas services”.
“Unfortunately like many people in Sydney and Melbourne, a large number of our frontline team are being required to test and isolate as close contacts given the increasing number of cases in the general community, and a result we have had to make some late adjustments to our schedule”
Unsurprisingly, this has left some less than happy customers…
jetstar cancelled my flight 2 minutes after i tweeted this lol https://t.co/ePPqPfmUPX
— Asher Lev (@tenseagulls) December 22, 2021
Thanks for ruining Christmas Eve @JetstarAirways every flight out of Victoria cancelled until tomorrow morning.
— Jake Allen (@jakepallen_) December 23, 2021
Virgin Australia just cancelled our flights with no alternative. 🤔 B, you’ve got to be kidding me. Don’t do this to us 😭
— Carissa (@CarissaRMS) December 21, 2021