"We are ensuring secure and affordable access for passengers who need to travel... as well as supporting the movement of essential freight such as critical medicine and personal protective equipment,"Mr McCormack said.
He said the network also ensured repatriated Australians can get to their home city after spending the mandatory 14 days in quarantine in the city they fly into.
The airlines will charge passengers for tickets on the flights and the government will cover any losses they incur on the services. The network will be reviewed after eight weeks.
Virgin said the plan would see it operate 64 services each week,starting Friday,and allow some of its 8000 stood down employees to return to work. Qantas'network will increase from 105 flights per week to 164 flights each week.
The announcement comes after Virgin last week grounded all domestic flying except for a single Sydney to Melbourne return service operating six days a week. Qantas and its budget offshoot Jetstar were flying to each capital city but at a significantly reduced frequency. Its Sydney-Melbourne service had dropped to five times a week compared to 50 times a day before the pandemic took hold.
Amid a growing debate over government intervention in the hard-hit aviation industry,Mr McCormack said the investment to support a minimum network showed the government was commitment to maintaining connectivity during the health crisis.