Virgin Australia Special Needs & Assistance Process Safety and comfort is important to Virgin Australia, so to make your customers flight as enjoyable as can be, we need to know about special needs in advance. Please see below the following Special Service Requests outlined in this document: Mobility Assistance Medical Clearance Meet and Assist Pets Mobility Assistance Virgin Australia offers the ability for Travel Agents to either request or book the mobility assistance via the GDS. The most common requests for mobility assistance are set out below, however if you receive a request which is not listed below, please contact the Guest Contact Centre. WCHR WCHS Guest cannot walk long distances but can negotiate stairs and walk to seat. Guest cannot walk long distances or negotiate stairs but can walk to seat. WCHC* Guest may be completely immobile; requires wheelchair from the check-in to their cabin seat* Note: *WCHC Wheelchair requests need to be requested through the Guest Contact Centre This document outlines the procedure for Travel Agents including what to do when travel is within 24 hours. For further information around Mobility Assistance please click here. Please follow the below steps for requesting mobility assistance for the following SSRs, WCHR or WCHS when the booking is more than 24 hours prior to Travel: 2. Add an SSR for the wheelchair either WCHR or WCHS. 3. Add relevant SSR remarks if guest required or travelling with electric/motorised mobility aid 4. The wheelchair request will reflect as a PN status. 5. This will generate for manual approval from Virgin Australia. You will receive confirmation as a KK status. Please accept, HK, and confirm the SSR. 6. If the request is not confirmed you will be contacted by Virgin Australia to look at alternative flight options. Booking Requests 24 hours prior to Travel: 2. Add an SSR for the wheelchair either WCHR or WCHS. 4. Contact Virgin Australia to either confirm the SSR or to advise an alternative flight. 5. Ticket the PNR as normal once the SSR has been confirmed. Page 1
GDS Entries Mobility Assist SR(Wheelchair Type)/(Name Number) SR(Wheelchair Type)/(Name Number) SRWCHR/P1 SRWCHS/P1 SI.(Name Number)/(Wheelchair Type) SI.(Name Number)/(Wheelchair Type) SI.P1/WCHR SI.P1/WCHS 3(Wheelchair Type)-(Name Number) 3(Wheelchair Type)-(Name Number) 3WCHR-1.2 3WCHS-1.2 Medical Clearance Virgin Australia offers the ability for Travel Agents to request Medical Clearance via the GDS. If your guest has a medical condition, he/she may require Medical Clearance to travel and you will need to review the medical clearance guidelines and ensure the correct SSR has been added to the relevant booking. Guests with medical conditions requiring medical clearance will be required to submit the medical clearance form to Virgin Australia for pre-approval prior to their travel. Medical clearance forms will be reviewed by dedicated Priority Assistance Agents within the Guest Contact Centre. Once approved for travel, guests will be notified. Guests are to carry a copy of the completed medical clearance form for each flight and are to present this at check-in and upon boarding. The following SSR must be used for booking a customer requiring medical clearance MEDA Guest requires Medical Clearance to travel Note: MEDA requests can be sent through the GDS however, COMPLETED FORMS MUST BE SENT TO OUR GUEST CONTACT CENTRE FOR REVIEW AND APPROVAL PRIOR TO TRAVEL Refer to the below Travel Agent process below for the correct procedure when travel is within 72 hours. For further information around Medical Clearance please click here. Please follow the below steps for requesting Medical Clearance for the following SSR MEDA when the booking is more than 72 hours prior to Travel: 2. Add an SSR for the medical clearance MEDA and associate to specific passenger. 3. Add relevant SSR remarks for any special instructions. 4. The medical clearance request will reflect as NN status. 5. Provide guest with Medical Clearance form and details of where to send the form either via fax or email refer to Virgin Australia Medical Clearance contact information below. 6. Ticket the PNR as normal. Note: The SSR will never reflect a KK status and will always remain as NN status. Page 2
7. You will be contacted to advise if approval has been granted for travel via email or phone call. 8. Advise your passenger they must travel with the medical clearance form on all flights. Booking Requests within 72 hours of Travel: Agents/passengers with urgent travel or travel within 72 hours are advised to contact the Virgin Australia Medical Clearance team on the details outlined below with regards to their travel and process around obtaining the correct medical clearance to travel. Booking Requests and travel to/from the USA: For passengers travelling on a flight to or from the United States or on a connecting Australian flight with a ticket bearing a Delta Air Lines code, a medical clearance form may not be required prior to travel. However, to prevent unexpected delays or issues on the day of travel, Virgin Australia recommends that passengers consider submitting a medical clearance form prior to travelling, following the process outlined above. Passengers travelling to or from the United States with Virgin Australia who choose not to submit a medical clearance form prior to travel, and have any of the following medical requirements, must ensure a medical certificate from their medical practitioner is obtained and dated within 10 days of the scheduled date of their initial departing flight. Need medical oxygen during a flight; Have a medical condition such that there is reasonable doubt that the passenger can complete the flight safely, without requiring extraordinary medical assistance during the flight; or Have a communicable disease or condition that could pose a direct threat to the health or safety of others on the flight. If a passenger provides a medical certificate meeting these requirements and Virgin Australia has a medical reason for believing there has been an adverse change in the passenger s condition since the medical certificate was issued, Virgin Australia can still require passengers to undergo a medical clearance. For further information about when a medical certificate is required or about medical clearance for travel to or from the United States, please visit the Virgin Australia Special Needs and Assistance Medical Conditions page or contact the Medical Clearance team on the details below. Virgin Australia Medical Clearance form and contact information Medical Clearance Guidelines and Form Within Australia: 1300 139 303 Anywhere else in the world: + 61 7 3295 3941 Forms can be emailed to: VA.Medical@virginaustralia.com Forms can be Faxed to: +61 7 3295 3100 GDS Entries Medical Assistance SR(Medical Clearance)-(Mandatory Free Text)/(Name Number) SRMEDA-MEDA/P1 SI.(Name Number)(Segment related)/(medical Clearance)*(Mandatory Free Text) SI.P1S1/MEDA*MEDA 3(Medical Clearance)(Segment related)/(mandatory Free Text)-(Name Number) 3MEDA1/MEDA-1.1 Page 3
Meet and Assist Virgin Australia offers the ability for Travel Agents to request Meet and Assist via the GDS. If your guest requires special assistance with carrying cabin baggage while boarding and disembarking the aircraft, or through Customs for international flights, a team member can assist them from the check in gate, to the boarding gate; and to the aircraft and vice versa. However, please note that we do not provide assistance from the kerb to the check-in counter or from the baggage collection area to the kerb. MAAS Guest requires meet and assistance at the airport Virgin Australia accepts Meet and Assist (MAAS) on Domestic, International Short Haul and Long Haul services. This document outlines the procedure for Travel Agents. Meet and Assist requests cannot be used as a substitute for wheelchair assistance, please refer to the process above. For further information around Meet and Assist please click here. Please follow the below steps for requesting a Meet and Assist SSR, MAAS: 2. Add an SSR for Meet and Assist MAAS. 4. The meet and assist request will reflect as a NN status. 5. This will generate for approval from Virgin Australia. You will receive confirmation as a KK status if the service is available for the flight selected. Please accept, HK, and confirm the SSR. 6. If the request is not confirmed you will receive a UC status. If unavailable, please advise your guest and re book onto another service. GDS Entries Meet and Assist SR(Meet and Assist)-(Mandatory Free Text)/(Name Number) SRMAAS-MAAS/P1 SI.(Name Number)/(Meet and Assist)*(Mandatory Free Text) SI.P1/MAAS*MAAS 3(Meet and Assist)/(Mandatory Free Text)-(Name Number) 3MAAS/MAAS-1.2 Page 4
Pets Virgin Australia can accommodate accompanied pet travel on most domestic flights, where we have appropriate pet handling arrangements in place at each end of the journey. Virgin Australia will only carry cats and dogs that are suitable for travel. Virgin Australia charges fees based on the combined weight of each container and the pet(s) which will be travelling in that container. Fees are non-refundable inside 28 days of the date of travel regardless of the class of fare booked by the accompanying passenger, and are payable: Per sector (a formal connection is classed as a single sector) Per container At the date of booking via the Guest Contact Centre AVIH Travelling with an animal in the hold Additional check in requirements (including check in time) applies to pet travel and is available here. For further information about Pets please click here. Please follow the below steps for booking a pet SSR, AVIH: 2. Add the AVIH SSR code. 4. The pet request will reflect as a NN status which is sent to Virgin Australia. 5. This will generate for approval from Virgin Australia. The SSR will reflect as a PN until you receive confirmation as a KK status if the service is available for the flight selected. Please accept, HK, and confirm the SSR. 6. If the request is not confirmed you will receive a UC status. If unavailable, please advise your guest and re book onto another service. 8. For payment fulfilment of the pet, contact the Virgin Australia Support team on 13 67 37. GDS Entries Pets SR(Animal in Hold)/(Name Number) SRAVIH/P1 SI.(Name Number)/(Animal in Hold) SI.P1/AVIH 3(Animal in Hold)-(Name Number) 3AVIH-1.2 Where do I go for more information? Refer to the Special Needs and Assistance webpage Page 5