Virgin Australia Group has today announced a new partnership with United Airlines that will triple the airline’s reach into the Americas, with customers to access more destinations and more benefits when travelling to cities across the United States, Mexico, the Caribbean and South America.
Commencing in April 2022, the new Virgin Australia and United Airlines partnership will establish codeshare co-operation, as well as reciprocal loyalty benefits for Velocity Frequent Flyer members to earn, redeem and receive tier benefits when travelling on United’s vast domestic and international network, connecting from the carrier’s multiple Australian gateways.
The partnership is also set to extend United’s large Australian presence, as the airline offers more flights to Australia than any other U.S. carrier, including daily direct flights from San Francisco and Los Angeles to Sydney, with flights from Houston and direct services to Melbourne expected to resume later in 2022.
Virgin Australia Group CEO Jayne Hrdlicka said the partnership was an exciting opportunity for Virgin Australia customers while tripling the airline’s reach into the United States.
“The United States is a key market for Virgin Australia, and we know Australians are excited to be able to travel overseas again, so we’ve created hundreds of new ways they can do that through United’s extensive services to and from Australia.
“Virgin Australia customers will have significantly more options for travel from Australia to the States, with more than three times as many services available to them, which is great news for Australian travellers.
“Our family has just expanded and we look forward to welcoming United and their guests on board in April,” she said.
The airlines say the new partnership will see them working together to improve customer experience and share best practices in areas such as innovation and sustainability.
United Airlines has been a long-term leader in sustainable aviation, and just last week operated the world’s first commercial passenger flight using 100 per cent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) which was a turning point in the industry’s effort to combat climate change.
The partnership with United will replace the airline’s current codeshare and frequent flyer relationship with Delta Air Lines, in 2022.
Delta and Virgin Australia have been partners for over a decade, flying millions of customers between Australia and the Americas in that time.
Virgin Australia Group CEO Jayne Hrdlicka has acknowledged the significant partnership with Delta Air Lines.
“We’d like to thank Delta Air Lines for their long-standing commitment and relationship with Virgin Australia. As a strategic partner with Virgin Australia for many years, Delta Air Lines has shared a wonderful journey with us, and we appreciate and value the many achievements we made together.
“We will work closely with Delta over the coming months to transition our Velocity partnership, and of course, all bookings will continue to be honoured when Delta customers fly on Virgin Australia.”
Click here for more information.