VIRGIN Australia wants to boost its global network by as many as 46 new international destinations under its proposed alliance with Singapore Airlines/SilkAir, Travel Daily can reveal.
DJ provided details of the plan to the Australian competition regulator late last month, with information made public on Fri.
In a six-page document to the ACCC, Virgin outlined that subject to regulatory approval, its joint venture with SIA would allow it to immediately add 36 new foreign cities which it and SQ have ‘third country codeshare rights” to.
The Alliance Framework Agreement with SIA will vastly increase Virgin’s Asian presence beyond the current offering of only Phuket and Singapore.
Hong Kong, Chiang Mai, Taiwan, Bandar Seri Begawan, Fukuoka, Osaka, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Kota Kinabalu, Penang, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Chongqing are just some of the destinations in 12 Asian countries DJ is eyeing.
Beyond Asia, Virgin is seeking immediate access to five hubs in Europe -Copenhagen, Amsterdam,
Barcelona, Zurich and to the delight of West Coast travellers, London (ex Perth only) – as well as South America (Sao Paulo), Dubai, and India (Kolkata).
A further 10 destinations (to Yangon, Burma; Cebu and Davao, Philippines; four cities in India; Rome, Italy; and Phnom Penh & Siem Reap, Cambodia) are also possible should the parties gain requisite rights.
Virgin has also told the ACCC it intends to codeshare to 11 cities in India, China, Japan and Africa which overlap with its alliance partner, Etihad Airways.
Those cities include Beijing, Tokyo, Nagoya, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Delhi and Mumbai.
But as Virgin does not place its designator code on EY metal to these destinations, there should be no roadblocks to these potential other codeshare points.
Virgin said the alliance with SIA would enable it to offer “many new routings, including from regional Australia to destinations throughout the world.”