Virgin Australia and United Airlines have celebrated the ink drying on their new partnership with a launch at Sydney International Airport today.
The media event, ahead of United’s first San Francisco co-share flight under the new partnership (UA870), was hosted by Virgin Australia Group CEO Jayne Hrdlicka and United Airlines’ Managing Director of International Sales, Marcel Fuchs.
The partnership was launched in typical Virgin Australia and United Airlines style with much fanfare, from dancing cheerleaders and Aussie surfers to free donuts and pretzel giveaways.
To conclude festivities, Jayne and Marcel, along with cabin crew from each respective airline, cut a ceremonial ribbon to mark the start of the new partnership, which significantly expands seamless travel opportunities and trade between Australia and the United States.
Alone, the partnership for Virgin Australia has immediately tripled the airline’s reach into the Americas (USA, Mexico and the Caribbean).
Virgin Australia was relaunched 18 months ago and has undergone a significant transformation with a renewed focus on its heartland customer.
The rebooted airline recently announced a new partnership with Qatar Airways and will resume international services to Bali on 15 June 2022 and Queenstown, NZ, in December 2022. The airline already operates daily flights to Fiji.
United Airlines will expand its Australian services from 2 June 2022 with the return of the carrier’s popular Melbourne-San Francisco route.
Virgin Australia Group CEO Jayne Hrdlicka said, “Today is another fantastic day for Virgin Australia. We are opening up nearly 100 one-stop destinations from Australia and hundreds more destinations beyond that into the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean, and effectively tripling our reach into the United States.
“United are the very best partner for Virgin Australia to service the Americas. They’ve got the biggest network, and they are very focused on customer experience and ensuring every day we work hard to lift and do better, so it’s a great alignment of our two wonderful airlines coming together.
“For travellers across Australia you now have the opportunity to earn Velocity Points, and when you fly, you can earn Status Credits, and there are also reciprocal loyalty benefits.
“If you have a lot of Velocity Points in the bank, you can use them to redeem on flights to the United States, so it’s a really important thing to be able to fly overseas and to be able to do that feeling like you’re still connected to the airline you call home.”
United Airlines’ Managing Director of International Sales, Marcel Fuchs, said “Today is a big day not only for United Airlines and our partner, Virgin Australia but also for the customers of both airlines as they can enjoy more flight options and mileage benefits.
“Australia has always been a key part of United’s international network, and Today’s partnership launch is a perfect example of our commitment to the Australian market where we’ve been serving for more than 35 years. We will continue to work together with Virgin Australia to provide our customers with a more convenient and comfortable travel experience.”
For more, head to virginaustralia.com.au