Australia's major airlines are talking up the prospects of more domestic flights and the reopening of international routes, despite problems with the vaccine rollout.
Their confidence also defies strong coronavirus case numbers overseas, and uncertainty over state border restrictions.
Virgin is hiring 150 new cabin crew and bringing back 220 employees from its other operations.
The company has also finalised arrangements to reintroduce 10 Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
It has announced several new routes and more services for existing flight paths, with the return of more than 80 per cent of the airline's pre-pandemic domestic capacity by mid-June.
Virgin Australia Group CEO Jayne Hrdlicka said the airline was focused on its domestic recovery program.
"Today, we are operating around 850 weekly return flights, and as we approach the June school holidays we will add another 220 return flights per week."
She said the airline was hopeful domestic border closures will "soon be a thing of the past".
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said all Qantas and Jetstar domestic crew were now back at work, with domestic capacity expected to reach 90 per cent of pre-COVID levels in the fourth quarter of 2021.
The company has added 34 new domestic routes since the middle of last year.
Preparations for the reopening of international borders and the resumption of international flights in late October - beyond flights between Australia and New Zealand - are continuing.
"As the recent lockdown in Brisbane showed, airlines and many other sectors remain vulnerable to snap travel restrictions until Australia's vaccination rollout is complete," Mr Joyce said.
"The vaccination program is absolutely key to restarting international flights in and out of Australia.
"While there have clearly been some speed bumps with the vaccine rollout, we are still planning for international flights to resume in late October."
Mr Joyce told reporters the airline had "complete flexibility" to start flights earlier than October if the opportunity arose.
He said the first international ports beyond New Zealand would depend on COVID case numbers and restrictions imposed by governments.
"There are clearly a lot of countries, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, that have had tight control over COVID," Mr Joyce said, listing Singapore, Japan and Taiwan as having good potential.
"But (we are also) actively looking at the Pacific islands because there are real good opportunities for places like Fiji."
Qantas believes governments will, in time, require vaccination for international travel.
"We do think it should be a requirement that people are vaccinated on our aircraft to minimise the risk to people travelling," Mr Joyce said.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison is meeting general practitioners and Australian Medical Association officials in Perth on Thursday to discuss the vaccine rollout.
Health ministers will also meet via teleconference to discuss the pandemic response, ahead of a national cabinet meeting next week.
The vaccine rollout could be dealt another blow following a decision made in Denmark, which has stopped offering AstraZeneca jabs to its entire population.
The European nation is now on the hunt for more doses of Pfizer vaccines, which Australia is also desperate to secure.
