The Commonwealth will spend $165 million to underwrite the cost of some flights to all capital cities and around a dozen regional centres over the next eight weeks.

The announcement comes as Virgin struggles to stay in business due to the lack of air travel and its substantial debt holdings.

The airline suspended domestic flights last week but in a statement said it responded to a request to get back in the air from the government.

Virgin said the schedule will run for eight weeks, enabling it to reinstate 200 staff, including pilots, cabin crew and ground staff.

It will operate 64 return services in total from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide and Perth and has advised passengers who are trying to rebook a cancelled flight to do so online with their Travel Bank credit.

“As a major Australian airline, we are proud to support the federal government in returning passengers home and enabling essential travellers to continue flying during this time,” the statement read.

Transport Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said the initial run of flights would be reviewed after eight weeks.

“As Australians are asked to stay home unless absolutely necessary, we are ensuring secure and affordable access for passengers who need to travel, including our essential workers such as frontline medical personnel and defence personnel, as well as supporting the movement of essential freight such as critical medicine and personal protective equipment,” McCormack said.

“We know that a strong domestic aviation network is critical to Australia’s success and today’s announcement demonstrates our commitment, yet again, to maintaining connectivity during this pandemic.

“This investment will also help Australians returning from overseas, who find themselves in a different city after 14 days of mandatory quarantine, complete their journey home safely.”

The $165-million backing for the domestic routes comes on top of support to the two airlines to keep open international routes to Los Angeles, London, Hong Kong and Auckland.

From today, Virgin Australia will operate 64 return services each week as per the following schedule:

Melbourne

Melbourne / Adelaide (three return services per week)

Melbourne / Brisbane (seven return services per week)

Melbourne / Canberra (three return services per week)

Melbourne / Perth (seven return services per week)

Melbourne / Sydney (seven return services per week)

Brisbane

Brisbane / Melbourne (seven return services per week)

Brisbane / Sydney (seven return services per week)

Brisbane / Cairns (three return services per week)

Brisbane / Mackay (five return services per week)

Brisbane / Rockhampton (three return services per week)

Brisbane / Townsville (three return services per week)

Sydney

Sydney / Melbourne (seven return services per week)

Sydney / Brisbane (seven return services per week)

Sydney / Gold Coast (three return services per week)

Canberra

Canberra / Melbourne (three return services per week)

Adelaide

Adelaide / Melbourne (three return services per week)

Perth

Perth / Melbourne (seven return services per week)

Perth / Broome (three return services per week)

Perth / Port Hedland (two return services per week)

Perth / Newman (two return services per week)

Perth / Karratha (two return services per week)

Perth / Kununurra (two return services per week)

Perth / Kalgoorlie (two return services per week)