logo
Virgin Australia unveils its new winter menu

Virgin Australia unveils its new winter menu

News.com.au08-05-2025

Virgin Australia has just revamped its menu offering across its economy and business class cabins with some great Aussie classics making the cut.
If you're a fan of the good ol' chicken parmi (or parma) you'll be pleased to know you can order it 35,000ft in the air in business class, as the airline unveils its new winter menu.
Those on the pointy end have plenty to choose from, with roughly 17 new lunch and dinner items on rotation, from Italy, Japan, India and Mexico.
For those craving pasta there's the risoni pasta and vegetable salad with grilled chicken or gnocchi leek and mushroom ragout.
If Japanese food is what you prefer the soba noodle and slaw salad with grilled chicken, soy caramel dressing and sesame, can tick that box.
And as for Indian and Mexican dishes, there's chickpea masala with herbed jasmine rice and optional tandoori chicken, as well as a three-bean quesadilla with sour cream and salsa.
Of course, if an Aussie classic is what you're after, there's the chicken parmigiana with mixed roast vegetables and sweet potato wedges.
Brekky items include dragonfruit and coconut oat balls, plain yoghurt with cranberry and apple granola, strawberry and honey – and banana bread with honey lemon ricotta.
The new menu comes into effect on May 28.
Those in economy also don't miss out with five new 'buy on board' items to choose from – including the savoury beef snack pie and sausage roll served side-by-side, triple cheese and caramelised onion sandwich and Italian indulgences from St Food Co such as the creamy spinach and ricotta tortellini.
It can all be washed down with the popular Archie Rose peach gin and soda.
'At Virgin Australia, we believe flying should be as enjoyable as the destination, right down to what's served on-board,' Kyler Chong, Virgin Australia's general manager product & customer strategy, said.
'Our new winter menu embodies our passion for bringing personality to the skies, featuring fresh, flavour-packed options designed to add value and delight at every bite.'
Meanwhile, the airline also announced it will give Velocity Frequent Flyer members travelling on new long-haul services to Doha (VA1-29) and beyond with Qatar Airways (launching from June 2025) a USD$20 Dine on Us voucher to redeem at selected food outlets at Hamad International Airport's restaurants.
The Dine on Us offer is part of a suite of premium benefits for Gold and Platinum Velocity members, alongside complimentary Advance Seat Selection, Priority Baggage, Points upgrades to Business Class from 1 July 2025, and additional baggage allowance.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Rate cut windfall: Aus big bank's shock new forecast
Rate cut windfall: Aus big bank's shock new forecast

News.com.au

time15 minutes ago

  • News.com.au

Rate cut windfall: Aus big bank's shock new forecast

A bombshell forecast by one of Australia's biggest banks could put thousands more back in struggling homeowners' pockets than expected amid an unprecedented rate cut war. In a shock move, Westpac Bank has doubled its rate cut forecast for the current cycle to now expect the Reserve Bank to implement four cuts to the cash rate target – putting in two additional 0.25pp falls in 2026. That would drive the cash rate target down to pandemic-era 2.85 per cent again, a number it was last at in November 2022. Wallabies to wealth: Huge windfall looms for 25yo star The move would save as much as $4,200 a year in interest charges for someone currently on a $600,000 loan, according to Canstar analysis. data insights director Sally Tindall said 'if Westpac's forecast comes to fruition and there are four more RBA cuts through to mid-next year, someone with a $600,000 loan could potentially see their monthly repayments drop by almost $350 a month.' 'This would be a huge relief for households under pressure, however, borrowers should remember this is a forecast, rather than a given.' In a surprise addition, Westpac also believes those 2026 cuts could come in earlier depending on whether inflation and labour market figures track weaker in late 2025. Of the big four, only National Australia Bank expects RBA to cut rates at its next meeting on July 8, with the other three picking a fall to 3.6pc in August. 'A single 0.25 percentage point cash rate cut, if fully passed on by lenders, could reduce monthly repayments on a $600,000, 25-year mortgage by $90,' Ms Tindall said. So far the Big Four forecasts show Westpac expecting four cuts now, NAB predicting three, and CBA and ANZ sitting on two. Such cuts would also drive the bulk of interest charges on mortgages under 5 per cent, with Westpac expecting the timing to be a cut in August and November this year and then two more in February and May next year. data has seven lenders already offering fixed rates from 4.99pc, Ms Tindall said, as banks attempt to get more buyers to lock in. 'While the majority of these deals are for owner-occupiers paying principal and interest, two banks – Australian Mutual and Police Bank – are also offering this sub-5pc rate to investors.' Lenders offering at least one fixed rate starting with a 4 include Australian Mutual Bank (4.99pc), Bank of Queensland (4.99pc), Community First Bank 4.99pc, GMCU 4.99pc, Queensland Country Bank 4.99pc, Pacific Mortgage Group 4.99pc, and Police Bank 4.99pc. 'The RBA won't hesitate to act in July should global volatility ramp up, but the more likely scenario is that it will sit tight until after the June quarter CPI results, due out at the end of next month,' is Canstar's prediction. 'Borrowers shouldn't be banking on multiple rate cuts just yet, but they can start preparing by shopping around for a better deal, particularly if, as an owner-occupier, their variable rate starts with a '6'.' 'Fixed rates continue to fall as lenders look to lock in more customers with rates starting with a '4'.'

Second Festival Plaza tower receives planning approval despite heritage concerns
Second Festival Plaza tower receives planning approval despite heritage concerns

ABC News

time24 minutes ago

  • ABC News

Second Festival Plaza tower receives planning approval despite heritage concerns

A 38-storey office building with shops, restaurants and a public plaza is set to tower over South Australia's Parliament House, after the concept was granted planning approval despite a number of concerns raised by the government's heritage agency. The State Commission Assessment Panel (SCAP) granted planning consent to developers Walker Corporation on Wednesday to build a 160-metre-tall skyscraper in the Festival Plaza precinct, directly behind Parliament House. The tower, scheduled for completion in 2027-28, is expected to accommodate up to 5,000 office workers and will stand alongside Walker Corporation's 29-storey "Festival One" office tower which opened in 2024. The new 38-storey building will feature outdoor dining areas and retail tenancies on the ground-floor, an elevated plaza space on level one, commercial office space from levels six to 16 and 19 to 35, and a restaurant on level 36. The SCAP — a panel of planning experts appointed by the State Planning Commission to assess major CBD development applications — determined the Festival Tower plan was not "seriously at variance" with the planning code, according to minutes of its meeting published on Thursday. The panel granted the project planning consent subject to nine conditions, five of which were heritage matters concerning the relationship between the tower and Parliament House. The Malinauskas government strongly backed Walker Corporation's proposal after asking the company to revise its earlier plan for a three-storey retail hub that would have stretched across the northern facade of Parliament House. Planning Minister Nick Champion said the SCAP approval was "unambiguously good news for the state", adding that the Festival Plaza will be "vibrant and teeming with people" once the tower is finished. "We want to activate this plaza and office workers will do that," Mr Champion said. "They will provide the customers for food and beverage, they'll wander down to the theatre after work, they'll have drinks in bars in the train station and in town. "This will bring vibrancy to the square and activity to the square, it will make this beautiful place even more vibrant and welcoming." The second Festival Tower has not been without controversy, particularly due to its size and location on public land between the Adelaide Festival Centre and Parliament House. A self-described coalition of 125 eminent South Australians, headlined by former Labor premier Lynn Arnold, campaigned against the tower and argued the Festival Plaza should be "open and civic in character". The SCAP's approval also comes despite a number of concerns raised by the government's heritage agency, Heritage SA, about the impact the tower would have on Parliament House, a national heritage place. In a submission to the SCAP, Heritage SA raised concerns that the "visual dominance" of the proposed tower would leave views of Parliament House's northern facade "compromised". "The currently open setting to the north of Parliament House will be enclosed by the tower, compromising the historic landmark scale of Parliament House along the North Terrace boulevard," Heritage SA's principal heritage architect Michael Queale wrote. Government planning officer Ben Scholes, who prepared a summary report for the SCAP on the development, noted Heritage SA's concerns but said the agency had "not directed refusal of the application". "Instead, through detailed conditions to be assigned to any Planning Consent granted, Heritage SA has recommended design amendments to mitigate the concerns raised," Mr Scholes wrote. "This position from Heritage SA, while highlighting significant impacts, indicates that these impacts may be considered manageable and would be capable of resolution through design adjustments, rather than representing a fundamental incompatibility with policy expectations." Mr Scholes said the Walker Corporation proposal represented a "delicate balance" between the strategic vision for the precinct and heritage impacts. He added that the proposal was "not considered to be so fundamentally inconsistent or materially detrimental to the heritage and cultural values of Parliament House" to be "seriously at variance" with the planning code's heritage policies. "The circumstances of this application are consistent with this precedent, where a balance between strategic aspirations and heritage values was implicitly accepted." Mr Champion said the heritage conditions imposed on the planning consent primarily relate to the building materials that "will be used to match the features of Parliament House". "Every indication that we've had from Walker [Corporation] is that they care about complimenting the … heritage features of Parliament House," he said. "That was one of the things that was worked on a lot by the Government Architect and the Design Review Team … a lot of thought going into that as we blend the old and the new." The ABC has contacted Walker Corporation for comment. The SCAP's approval marks one of the final stages of the redevelopment of the Festival Plaza precinct — a process that began in 2014 when Walker Corporation entered a partnership with the state government to redevelop the Festival Plaza car park. That preceded a public-private partnership to upgrade the Festival Plaza's public realm, followed by construction on the 29-storey Festival One tower, which is now home to Flinders University and Deloitte. Early works behind Parliament House are already underway to prepare for the construction of the second tower, which is planned to hold 1,354 car parking spaces and around 47,000 square metres of office space. The second Festival Plaza building will rank among Adelaide's tallest buildings when completed. At 160-metres in height, the tower would eclipse the city's current tallest building, Frome Central Tower One, which stands at 138-metres-tall in the east end of the CBD. An even taller 180-metre, 37-storey hotel was given planning consent last year for construction behind the Freemasons Lodge at 254 North Terrace.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store