Whilst flights across Australia may have become cheaper the last few years, the bastion of travellers nightmares has held on strong. The dreaded excessive baggage charge has long been a thorn in the side of touring bands, but that’s about to become a whole lot easier thanks to airline Virgin Australia announcing a new initiative aimed at addressing the ongoing problems musicians face when travelling with musical equipment.
Virgin Australia have made an offer exclusively to the music industry after discussions led by national body The Australian Music Industry Network (AMIN), that includes a baggage allowance of 32kg (across three pieces of checked baggage) for individual artists – with an additional 32kg able to be purchased in advance for just $15. Bands will also now be able to ‘pool’ their baggage allowance across their travelling group.
Q Music Executive Officer and AMIN Director Denise Foley says “Dealing with high and inconsistent excess baggage charges has been a burning issue across the music industry for many years,” Ms Foley says. “And Virgin Australia should be congratulated for having the willingness to not only listen to the industry’s concerns, but actually putting in place a system that addresses the problem. The impact of this new deal for artists will be significant and ongoing.”
Virgin Australia’s Executive Richard Tanner made the announcement at the official opening of Brisbane’s BIGSOUND music industry conference last night saying “Ours is a brand that has a long and historic association with music,” Mr Tanner says. “It has been a pleasure to work with the industry to develop a solution that will deliver real tangible benefits to Australian artists on a daily basis.”
The deal offered by Virgin Australia will be made available only to members of music industry organisations that elect to partner with the airline – the complete list of organisations will be announced over the coming weeks.
