If there is one thing Australians love more than a public holiday, it is travelling across the country to watch thirty-six people chase a piece of leather around a grassy oval. With the 2026 Toyota AFL Premiership season just weeks away, Virgin Australia has confirmed it will remain the \u201cwings\u201d beneath the AFL\u2019s feet, extending its partnership through to 2030.<\/p>\n
This looks to be a massive commitment to the AFL and AFLW clubs, their staff, and (most importantly) the fans who keep the turnstiles clicking.<\/p>\n
Why This Matters for the Fans<\/p>\n
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The numbers don\u2019t lie: we are a nation obsessed. In 2025, club memberships soared past 1.3 million, and over half a million of us hopped on a plane to support our teams in away games. <\/p>\n
Whether it\u2019s heading to Adelaide for Gather Round or making the pilgrimage for the Finals Series, interstate footy travel has become a staple of the Australian sporting diet.<\/p>\n
The Hot Tip: Virgin Australia has launched a massive sale with fares starting at $49 one-way to major away-game cities. If you want in, you\u2019ll need to move faster than a small forward in a goal square; the sale ends at 11:00pm AEST on Saturday, 7 February 2026.<\/p>\n
The Tall Timber Gets a Break<\/p>\n
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It isn\u2019t just the fans getting the perks. If you\u2019ve ever wondered how a two-metre-tall ruckman fits into a standard aeroplane seat, the answer is: not very comfortably.<\/p>\n
Geelong Cats Captain Patrick Dangerfield noted that nearly half of his teammates stand over six-foot-two. \u201cThe whole team loves travelling with Virgin Australia. They\u2019re reliable, friendly, and the airline\u2019s Economy X seating is ideal for our team, especially with nearly half of our players being over six foot two!\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Fortunately, the new agreement ensures players get priority access to Economy X, which offers extra legroom and dedicated locker space. Because let\u2019s be honest, no one wants a grumpy, cramped midfielder running onto the field after a four-hour flight.<\/p>\n
Looking Toward 2030<\/p>\n
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By the time this contract reaches its conclusion, Virgin and the AFL will have been partners for nearly two decades. In that time, they\u2019ve moved over 183,000 seats worth of players and staff and over 3,600 tonnes of cargo, mostly consisting of boots, jumpers, and presumably, a lot of sports tape.<\/p>\n
As AFL CEO Andrew Dillon noted, 2026 is already looking massive. Between a sold-out AFL Origin, the Community Series, and the opening of the home and away season, the demand for travel is expected to grow by double digits.<\/p>\n
So, if you\u2019re planning to follow your team to victory (or provide moral support during a \u201crebuilding year\u201d), it seems your flight path is well and truly cleared.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If there is one thing Australians love more than a public holiday, it is travelling across the country…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":459709,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-460423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=460423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/459709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=460423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=460423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=460423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}