The Virgin Australia Group today announced a temporary closure of its lounges network in accordance with new social distancing laws implemented by the Australian Federal Government.

“This is an unprecedented time in the global aviation industry and we’ve needed to make this temporary change to our guest offering in order to comply with the current social distancing requirements,” said Virgin Australia Chief Experience Officer Danielle Keighery.

“We sincerely apologise to any passenger affected and we’ll continue to keep guests and our Velocity members updated on when the lounges will re-open,” she said.

Virgin Australia has implemented new measures to help return guests home before the majority of Australian States and Territories’ travel restrictions come into effect tomorrow. Guests who are booked on a Virgin Australia or Tigerair flight scheduled to depart on or before this Friday 27 March 2020 inclusive, are able to move onto a flight departing on or before Tuesday 24 March 2020, without incurring any change fee or fare difference.

The airline is also providing full flexibility on all existing and new bookings until 30 June 2020 inclusive. Guests who wish to rebook their flight, make a new booking or change the destination of their booking until this date, won’t incur a change fee .

Members of the airline’s loyalty program, Velocity Frequent Flyer, have also received a 12-month status extension and extra status credits depending on their membership tier.