More codeshares are afoot, with Virgin Atlantic and IndiGo announcing a new codeshare between the UK and India, offering connections and point-earning opportunities.
The codeshare partnership will mean customers booking a Virgin Atlantic ticket will be able to fly on the airline’s London Heathrow to Delhi and Mumbai flights and connect to and from 7 additional cities in India. Later this year the agreement will be expanded to cover 16 destinations throughout India, and connections to Virgin Atlantic’s extensive US network operated via London Heathrow.
The agreement will allow Virgin Atlantic to sell seats to passengers connecting onto IndiGo flights.
The destinations in the codeshare in the two phases are:
| Phase one | Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Goa, Delhi, Mumbai |
|---|---|
| Phase two | Kochi, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Pune, Coimbatore, Nagpur, Vadodara, Indore and Vishakhapatnam. Connect on IndiGo to and from London Heathrow via Delhi / Mumbai |
Frequent flyer benefits too
Those who hold membership of Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club will be able to earn both Virgin Points and Tier Points available on every codeshare with IndiGo.
In Quotes
Juha Jarvinen, Chief Commercial Officer at Virgin Atlantic, commented:
“We’re thrilled to launch a new codeshare partnership with IndiGo. This summer marks our largest ever flying programme from India with three daily direct services to London and our new partnership takes our commitment to even greater heights. IndiGo is India’s largest airline and its extensive network will offer Virgin Atlantic customers even more choice when travelling between the UK and India, as well as offering seamless connections for the onward travel across our extensive US route network.
“It’s great news for our Flying Club too, by providing more opportunities for members to earn valuable points. This new partnership aims to respond to the large, fast-growing demand for visiting friends & relatives, leisure as well as business travellers looking for more choice between UK and India.”
Ronojoy Dutta, Chief Executive Officer and Wholetime Director, IndiGo said:
“We are pleased to announce our codeshare with Virgin Atlantic to provide enhanced connectivity to the passengers. This will not only help offer a seamless travel experience from London to as many as 16 destinations in India, but also open up international trade opportunities throughout the country via enhanced accessibility. We look forward to having Virgin Atlantic’s customers on our lean clean flying machine, as we extend our on-time, affordable, courteous and hassle-free travel experience.”
Starting soon
The codeshare flights will be available this week for booking for travel beyond 27th September, subject to government approval.
It seems Virgin Atlantic customers have come out very well from this- with 16 new destinations, as well as the ability to earn miles and points on the airline. It’ll be interesting to see how the codeshare expands over time – remember that IndiGo operates to over 74 domestic destinations and 25 overseas.
That’s going to allow a lot of customers to travel simply on one ticket to and from destinations across India and beyond.
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