Virgin Australia Benefits from Qantas Industrial Disputes

The labor dispute at Qantas benefited Virgin Australia which logged a 3.5 per cent increase in domestic passenger traffic in November.

It was the month after Qantas grounded its fleet for two days following several work stoppages made by the ground crew, pilots and aircraft engineers unions. On that month, Virgin flew 1.42 million domestic passengers, up from 1.37 million the previous month.

For the same month, Qantas registered a 1.3 per cent in passengers for its domestic routes.

Combining its domestic and international operations, Virgin passenger growth in November was 3.7 per cent.

Qantas's industrial row is being handled by Fair Work Australia. The air carrier had reached an agreement with the aircraft engineers' union.