Virgin Australia and Air New Zealand are set to launch a trans-Tasman alliance which will also boost the appeal of Virgin’s Velocity frequent flyer program.
Passengers will be able to earn Velocity points and status credits on AirNZ flights between Australia and New Zealand carrying a VA flight number, and also use their Velocity points to book those Air New Zealand flights.
Velocity Golds and Velocity Platinums, along with members of the invitation-only Beyond program, will also enjoy access to the Kiwi carrier’s lounges when flying on these VA-coded Air New Zealand flights.
The proposal for “a unilateral trans-Tasman codeshare agreement” has been given a tentative green light by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission on a five-year basis, pending “submissions in response to this draft determination before making its final decision.”
The ACCC said it “considers the codeshare arrangements are likely to result in public benefits from enhanced products and services” such as “increased choice and convenience for Australian point of sale trans-Tasman travellers” and “better loyalty program benefits for Virgin Australia customers.”
The move will help fill the holes in Virgin Australia’s NZ network since Virgin abandoned all flights to Aotearoa, except for the popular tourist magnet of Queenstown, to focus on its core domestic services.
It’s also likely to be taken as a sign that Virgin has no intent to expand its NZ network beyond Queenstown.
However, the ACCC says the new arrangement will not involve NZ flight numbers being added to “any services operated by Virgin Australia” and will also “not apply on routes where Virgin Australia operates its own trans-Tasman services”, which at the time of writing are limited to Virgin’s 737 flights from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to Queenstown.
Virgin Australia and Air New Zealand enjoyed a long and deep partnership until October 2018, when the Kiwi carrier pulled out of the alliance over disagreement with Virgin Australia’s direction under then-CEO John Borghetti.
Qantas unexpectedly swooped in to ink a new alliance with the Star Alliance member, although this was restricted to a codeshare on domestic flights within Australia and New Zealand, rather than flights between the two countries.
By David Flynn,
Source ExecutiveTraveller
