brads92
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Delta, Virgin Australia Trans-Pacific Codeshare to Launch in November
Trans-Pacific codeshare services on sale Sept. 19 for travel beginning Nov. 61
V Australia to arrive at Delta’s Los Angeles T5 terminal to improve connectivity
ATLANTA and SYDNEY, 19 September 2011:
Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) and Virgin Australia group ofairlines (ASX: VBA) today announced two major milestones of their recently approved joint venture: anexpanded codesharing agreement on flights between the United States and Australia, and an enhancedcustomer experience in Los Angeles.
Codeshare service will be available for sale beginning Sept. 19, 2011, for travel effective Nov. 6, 2011.
Under the agreement, Delta will add its code to all flights between Los Angeles and the Australian cities Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, operated by V Australia, Virgin Australia’s long-haul international carrier. V Australia will add its code to Delta’s service between Los Angeles and Sydney. For customers, the expanded codesharing means more options when booking trans-Pacific travel on Delta or V Australia, as well as benefits such as accrual of frequent flier miles and premium lounge access regardless of which airline operates the flight. To further improve the customer experience, from November, flights operated by V Australia will arrive at Delta’s Terminal 5 at Los Angeles International Airport2. This will allow for easier and faster connections within the same terminal to the rest of Delta’s network, as well as access to new customs and immigration facilities in Terminal 5.“The start of trans-Pacific codesharing and arrival co-location at T5 in Los Angeles mark the first major steps toward establishing our joint venture, which will provide significant benefits for our customers,” said Charlie Pappas, Delta’s vice president – Alliances. “Together, Delta and Virgin Australia will offer a leading network and a superior travel experience for our customers flying between the U.S. and Australia.
”Virgin Australia Group Executive, Merren McArthur said: “Since receiving US government approval in June,Delta and Virgin Australia have moved quickly to deliver the consumer benefits that are enabled by our joint venture. The joint venture will allow us to offer more choice and a more seamless travel experience from November, providing Guests with three Trans-Pacific services per day and allowing us to spread our respective departure times out of Sydney to improve connections.“The next milestone will be the expansion of the existing domestic codeshare on each airline's domestic network, further improving connectivity of our services and giving Virgin Australia guests access to 250 destinations across the United States, Canada and Mexico,” Ms McArthur said. Following the U.S. Department of Transportation’s approval of antitrust immunity for Delta and Virgin Australia on trans-Pacific flights in June, the two airlines have been working closely on expanding codesharing, coordinating products and services and extending frequent flyer program benefits and lounge access to customers of both carriers. The joint venture will create a comprehensive, fully integrated networkable to serve thousands of city-pairs in North America and the South Pacific, providing numerous destinations which otherwise would not be accessible to customers.The trans-Pacific codesharing agreement is the latest expansion of the partnership between the two airlines. In May, Delta and Virgin Australia announced an enhanced codeshare that added Delta’s code to Virgin
Codeshare service will be available for sale beginning Sept. 19, 2011, for travel effective Nov. 6, 2011.
Under the agreement, Delta will add its code to all flights between Los Angeles and the Australian cities Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, operated by V Australia, Virgin Australia’s long-haul international carrier. V Australia will add its code to Delta’s service between Los Angeles and Sydney. For customers, the expanded codesharing means more options when booking trans-Pacific travel on Delta or V Australia, as well as benefits such as accrual of frequent flier miles and premium lounge access regardless of which airline operates the flight. To further improve the customer experience, from November, flights operated by V Australia will arrive at Delta’s Terminal 5 at Los Angeles International Airport2. This will allow for easier and faster connections within the same terminal to the rest of Delta’s network, as well as access to new customs and immigration facilities in Terminal 5.“The start of trans-Pacific codesharing and arrival co-location at T5 in Los Angeles mark the first major steps toward establishing our joint venture, which will provide significant benefits for our customers,” said Charlie Pappas, Delta’s vice president – Alliances. “Together, Delta and Virgin Australia will offer a leading network and a superior travel experience for our customers flying between the U.S. and Australia.
”Virgin Australia Group Executive, Merren McArthur said: “Since receiving US government approval in June,Delta and Virgin Australia have moved quickly to deliver the consumer benefits that are enabled by our joint venture. The joint venture will allow us to offer more choice and a more seamless travel experience from November, providing Guests with three Trans-Pacific services per day and allowing us to spread our respective departure times out of Sydney to improve connections.“The next milestone will be the expansion of the existing domestic codeshare on each airline's domestic network, further improving connectivity of our services and giving Virgin Australia guests access to 250 destinations across the United States, Canada and Mexico,” Ms McArthur said. Following the U.S. Department of Transportation’s approval of antitrust immunity for Delta and Virgin Australia on trans-Pacific flights in June, the two airlines have been working closely on expanding codesharing, coordinating products and services and extending frequent flyer program benefits and lounge access to customers of both carriers. The joint venture will create a comprehensive, fully integrated networkable to serve thousands of city-pairs in North America and the South Pacific, providing numerous destinations which otherwise would not be accessible to customers.The trans-Pacific codesharing agreement is the latest expansion of the partnership between the two airlines. In May, Delta and Virgin Australia announced an enhanced codeshare that added Delta’s code to Virgin
1
Subject to Government approval
2
V Australia operated flights will continue to depart from Terminal 3 at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
page 02
Australia flights to five destinations in Australia, and added Virgin Australia’s code on Delta service to fournew cities in the United States.
About Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines serves more than 160 million customers each year, and was named by Fortune magazine asthe most admired airline worldwide in its 2011 World's Most Admired Companies airline industry list. With anindustry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to 339 destinations in59 countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs 80,000 employees worldwide andoperates a mainline fleet of more than 700 aircraft. A founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance, Deltaparticipates in the industry’s leading trans-Atlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia. Including itsworldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than 13,000 daily flights, with hubs in Amsterdam,Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-JFK, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, SaltLake City and Tokyo-Narita. The airline’s service includes the SkyMiles frequent flier program, a world-classairline loyalty program; the award-winning BusinessElite service; and more than 50 Delta Sky Clubs inairports worldwide. Delta is investing more than $2 billion through 2013 in airport facilities and globalproducts, services and technology to enhance the customer experience in the air and on the ground.Customers can check in for flights, print boarding passes, check bags and review flight status at delta.com.
About Virgin Australia group of airlines
Virgin Australia group of airlines (ASX: VBA), formerly the Virgin Blue group of airlines, was launched in2000 and has since established a global reputation as an innovator and leader in the aviation industry;renowned for the warmth of its people and the quality of the service they provide. Today the group employsover 7,000 people and includes multi-award winning domestic airline Virgin Australia (formerly Virgin Blue);international long-haul airline V Australia, international subsidiary airline Pacific Blue; and Polynesian Blue, ajoint venture airline with the Government of Samoa. Virgin Australia group of airlines is currently in theprocess of re-launching its domestic and short-haul international product, and both V Australia and PacificBlue airlines will operate as Virgin Australia by the end of 2011. The group also includes multi-award winningfrequent flyer and loyalty program, Velocity, and holiday arm, Blue Holidays. The group operates a fleet of 89modern Boeing 737, 777 and Embraer E-Jet aircraft flying to 32 Australian and 16 international destinationsincluding the USA, UAE, New Zealand, Indonesia, Thailand, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga,Vanuatu and the Cook Islands. Virgin Australia group of airlines has alliances with Etihad Airways and AirNew Zealand and has recently announced partnerships with Singapore Airlines and Skywest Airlines which
will see it expand its footprint in Asia and regional Australia.
