Move follows outcry over sultanate’s adoption of laws that include death penalty for gay sex

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Virgin Australia has cancelled a staff travel agreement with Brunei’s national airline in response to the country’s adoption of sharia law, including the death penalty for gay sex.

The agreement allowed staff from the Australian arm of Richard Branson’s Virgin airline group to book discounted tickets on Royal Brunei flights for leisure travel.

On Thursday the company, Australia’s second-biggest airline after Qantas, sent an email to employees explaining the new sharia code, which came into effect on Wednesday, applies to Muslims, non-Muslims and foreigners “even when transiting on Brunei-registered aircraft and vessels”.

“Given the harsh (including death) penalties being introduced for activity that is legal and acceptable in Australia, the myID (staff travel) agreement between Virgin Australia and Royal Brunei has now been terminated effective immediately,” the email said.

A separate agreement that allows Royal Brunei to sell seats available on Virgin Australia flights within Australia remains in place, a Virgin spokesperson said.

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Qantas, whose chief executive, Alan Joyce, is one of Australia’s highest-profile openly gay business leaders, declined to comment on whether it was reviewing its staff travel deal with Royal Brunei.

The tough sharia penal code in the tiny south-east Asian country – ruled by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah – came into force this week following years of delays.

The laws, including death by stoning for adultery and gay sex, make Brunei the first place in east or south-east Asia to have a sharia penal code at a national level, joining several mostly Middle Eastern countries, such as Saudi Arabia.

The decision to push ahead with the punishments has sparked alarm around the world, with the United Nations labelling them a “clear violation” of human rights, and celebrities, led by actor George Clooney and musician Elton John, calling for Brunei-owned hotels to be boycotted.