Virgin Atlantic and IndiGo announce codeshare partnership between the U.K. and India, providing more convenient connections and ample opportunities for frequent flyers to earn even more miles.
The codeshare partnership means that customers booking Virgin Atlantic flights will be able to fly with the airline from London (LHR) to Delhi (DEL) and Mumbai (BOM), as well as connect to and from seven other Indian cities. Later this year, the agreement will be extended to 16 destinations in India, as well as Virgin Atlantic’s large U.S. network, which operates through Heathrow International Airport (LHR).
The agreement will allow Virgin Atlantic to sell seats to connecting passengers on IndiGo flights. The initial codeshare destinations in India are Chennai (MAA), Bangalore (BLR), Hyderabad (HYD), Kolkata (CCU), Ahmedabad (AMD), Amritsar (ATQ), Goa (GOI), Delhi (DEL) and Mumbai (BOM). In a second phase, destinations to Kochi (COK), Chandigarh (IXC), Jaipur (JAI), Pune (PQN), Coimbatore (CJB), Nagpur (NAG), Vadodara (BDQ), Indore (IDR) and Visakhapatnam (VTZ) will be added.
UK is India’s main European market, according to data obtained by Aviacionline through the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA):in 2019 it moved 2,446,245 passengers and currently Virgin Atlantic serves major markets including Delhi (DEL) and Mumbai (BOM).
The new codeshare agreement will allow Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club members to earn rewards faster and will be able to earn Virgin Points and Tier Points for each codeshare with IndiGo.
Code share flights will be available from both companies’ websites and regular channels by this week to book flights after September 27, subject to government approval.
Virgin Atlantic is the third largest airline operator in the UK-India market with a share of 18.68%: according to data obtained by Aviacionline through Cirium, the company will have a supply of 10,836 seats per week across 42 air operations.
«We are delighted to launch a new codeshare partnership with IndiGo. This summer marks our largest ever schedule of flights from India with three daily direct services to London and our new partnership takes our commitment to even greater heights,» said Juha Jarvinen, Virgin Atlantic’s chief commercial officer.
«IndiGo is India’s largest airline and its extensive network will offer Virgin Atlantic customers even more choice when traveling between the U.K. and India, as well as providing seamless connections for onward travel via our extensive U.S. route network,» Jarvinen added.
See also: Virgin Atlantic schedules first Airbus A330neo routes
