Virgin Australia’s CEO Jayne Hrdlicka has launched a new rewards program called ‘Virgin Australia Business Flyer’, which she said will further reward the carrier’s small to medium-sized business (SME) customers and entice new business by “giving them a taste of flying with a fun, vibrant and value-for-money airline”.

With Virgin Australia SME travel demand soaring to levels not seen in two years, she said Virgin Australia Business Flyer is aimed at protecting and growing the airline’s share of the SME market, while recognising and providing excellent value and affordability.

Hrdlicka said Virgin Australia represents great value for Australian small to medium sized businesses.

“Great value and award-winning service is at the heart of Virgin Australia, and we’ve raised the value stakes even higher with the launch of the Virgin Australia Business Flyer rewards program,” she said.

“We are continuing to provide exceptional service experiences and product offerings at great value prices, and we know that’s important for small to medium-sized businesses and corporates who are emerging from the pandemic more conscious of value provided by their partners than ever before.

“Virgin Australia has always played an important role in the travel needs of small and medium sized businesses and our team has been working hard over the last 15 months to re-imagine the best way to bring value to this part of our customer base.

“Today’s announcement is the beginning of our journey to add even higher levels of value to this community and ensure that we fiercely compete for our fair share of our heartland customers.

“There is no other Australian airline that offers a free rewards program for businesses, lounges in every capital city, three types of domestic seating choices including Business Class, jet services to hundreds of destinations around the country, and all the bells and whistles at such an excellent value-for-money price point.

“Business Class fares are up to 60 per cent cheaper than what they were prior to the pandemic, and in an independent airfare study released in July 2021, our Economy fares were found to be up to 67 per cent cheaper.

“With the additional airfare discounts we are offering under the Business Flyer loyalty program, on top of Velocity Points earn for businesses, it’s going to be very hard for any business owner to look past Virgin Australia when choosing a domestic airline partner,” Hrdlicka said.

Since relaunching in 2020, Virgin Australia has been transformed to focus on its heartland customers which include value conscious corporate and small to medium sized businesses travellers and premium leisure travellers.

In recent months, she said Virgin Australia has considerably grown its share of the domestic market in Australia and “intends to hold its market share at 33 per cent over time, in order to ensure depth and breadth of network and schedule to its core customers”.

After joining for free, Virgin Australia Business Flyer members will receive further discounted airfares and Lounge memberships, as well as Velocity Points for their business – an expansion of the Velocity Points earning potential for every dollar spent on eligible Virgin Australia flights (allowing members to double-dip on points earnt from every flight).

Velocity Points for business can be reinvested or transferred to any personal Velocity Frequent Flyer account of a staff member of the business, allowing members to double dip on Points to directly redeem on flights, upgrades, hotels, car hire, through partners or for purchases at the Velocity e-store.

Staff members of businesses will continue to earn Velocity Points and Status Credits at the same rate as all Virgin Australia airfares, even with the additional Virgin Australia Business Flyer airfare discounts.