Air India and Virgin Australia have signed a codeshare agreement that will help the Indian flag carrier in accessing more destinations in Australia and New Zealand.
Air India-Virgin Australia codeshare
The codeshare is unilateral that enables Air India to place its ‘AI’ code on flights operated by Virgin Australia. This enhances the opportunities that Air India passengers have when travelling from Delhi to Melbourne or Sydney and take easy onward connections on Virgin Australia flights to 16 destinations in Australia and New Zealand. These are:
- Adelaide
- Ballina/Bryon Bay
- Brisbane
- Cairns
- Canberra
- Darwin
- Gold Coast
- Hamilton Island
- Hobart
- Launceston
- Melbourne
- Newcastle
- Perth
- Sunshine Coast
- Sydney
- Queenstown, New Zealand
Australia is one of Air India’s most important international markets, so it is incredibly exciting for us to be partnering with Virgin Australia to expand our presence in the region. While the partnership provides greater ease and access for the large Indian diaspora spread across the continent, it also opens up a whole new range of destinations for holidaymakers wanting to soak up the beaches of Gold Coast, discover Tasmania, or to explore the natural wonders of The Great Barrier Reef.
Nipun Aggarwal, Chief Commercial Officer, Air India said.
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Air India currently operates 17-weekly flights to Australia, a daily service to Sydney and Melbourne from Delhi and a 3-weekly service from Mumbai to Melbourne (suspending on 30th March 2025 and resuming again on 13th September 2025). The codeshare only applies to passengers travelling from Delhi.
We are pleased to partner with Air India to make it easier for their customers to explore everything Australia has to offer. India is a growing tourism market for Australia and this partnership will encourage travellers arriving on one of Air India’s 14 weekly flights to explore more of our wonderful country thanks to seamless onward connections on the Virgin Australia network.
Alistair Hartley, Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer, Virgin Australia said.
Air India operates flights to Australia using Boeing B787-8 Dreamliners featuring 18 lie-flat Business Class seats and 238 standard Economy Class seats. Passengers connecting onto Virgin Australia flights will be able to connect onto the same class of service as it also has the same two classes of service.
Codeshare bookings are live now, with first codeshare flights set to operate from 18th February 2025.
Australian national carrier Qantas has a codeshare agreement with IndiGo.
Featured image by Air India
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