Flight Centre to close up to 100 stores, Mildura status unclear

FLIGHT Centre is not disclosing whether its Mildura store will be among up to 100 set to close as the travel industry responds to the impact of coronavirus COVID-19.

The company announced on Friday morning it would reduce its store footprint in coming months.

Up to 100 underperforming stores in the leisure travel market would close before June 30, with the company saying sales staff would be redeployed to fill existing vacancies in other shops nearby.

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Flight Centre’s Mildura store is located on Eighth Street, in the stretch of shops between Deakin Avenue and Langtree Avenue.

The nearest Flight Centre outlet to Mildura is at Renmark.

A spokesman said the company was not disclosing exact locations set for closure, although they would be Australia-wide and across different brands.

Flight Centre’s morning statement said it had 1040 sales teams at about 855 sites throughout Australia.

Managing director Graham Turner said the company was implementing sensible cost reduction strategies but backed the travel industry to rebound.

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“While people are still booking travel – in February our (total transaction value) actually increased slightly globally compared to the same month last year – we are now seeing significant softening and expect this to continue into April at least,” Mr Turner said.

“Within this uncertain environment, our priorities are to reduce costs, while also ensuring that we and our people are ready to capitalise when the steep discounting that is under way across most travel categories starts to gain traction and as the trading cycle rebounds.

“As we saw with both SARS and the (global financial crisis) in Australia, the rebound can be relatively fast and strong after a fairly significant downturn in international travel.”