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Virgin Australia divorces Delta Air Lines, moves in with United Airlines
December 15th 2021
Virgin Australia (VA) Group has dumped decade long partner, Delta Air Lines, on trans-Pacific routes in favour of rival United Airlines (UA). Read More » The Australian carrier will partner with UA from next April in a deal that will triple the number of U.S. cities VA customers can access to 92 one-stop connections. The new cooperation also will extend UA’s Australian presence. At present, the Atlanta-headquartered carrier operates daily direct flights from San Francisco and Los Angeles to Sydney and expects to resume flying from Houston and directly to Melbourne in 2022. Members of Virgin’s Velocity loyalty program will be able to earn points, status credits, receive tier benefits when travelling on UA flights and enjoy reciprocal lounge access under the terms of the agreement. “The United States is a key market for Virgin Australia. We know Australians are excited to be able to travel overseas again, so we have created hundreds of new ways they can do that through United’s extensive services to and from Australia,’’ said Virgin Australia Group CEO, Jayne Hrdlicka. VA is scheduled to restart its international network on December 16 with flights to Fiji.
