What Is an Interline Agreement?

This week, Rex announced that it has signed an interline agreement with Etihad Airways. This is Rex’s second interline agreement after launching one with Delta in 2022. (Rex previously had an interline agreement with Virgin Australia, but this ended several years ago.)

“Partnering with a world-class airline like Etihad brings a new era of choice and connection for Rex passengers,” Rex General Manager of Network Strategy Warrick Lodge said.

“The entire journey, including Etihad and Rex connecting flights, can be booked under one booking and passengers can enjoy the convenience of through-check baggage (where permitted).”

This announcement has led to some wild speculation that Etihad might be looking to replace Virgin Australia with Rex as its main Australian partner airline. But when you consider what an interline agreement actually is, this seems unlikely…

The different types of airline partnerships

As we explain in the first course of the AFF Training, airline partnerships can involve several different levels of cooperation:

An interline agreement is the most basic level of cooperation between two airlines. Codeshares involve a higher level of integration, while joint ventures require the highest level.

(The above chart comes from our Frequent Flyer Training unit on Airline Alliances. This unit, along with all the other content in our first two Training courses, is available for free to all AFF members – you just need to be logged into your AFF account!)

What an interline agreement involves

An interline is basically an agreement between two airlines to check through luggage and issue boarding passes when connecting between the two airlines on the same ticket.

Such an agreement also gives airlines the ability to sell connecting itineraries including travel on the other airline on a single ticket.

For example, Delta’s only Australian service is between Sydney and Los Angeles. But Delta can still sell tickets from Brisbane to Los Angeles via Sydney, with Australian domestic connections on its interline partners. In this case, connecting flights between Brisbane and Sydney are offered on Rex, Virgin Australia or Jetstar. (In total, Delta has interline agreements with 130 airlines.)

Many airlines have interline agreements with each other. When booking a flight to the USA, for example, Qantas even offers connections on United Airlines – in addition to flights on its joint venture partner American Airlines and fellow Oneworld member Alaska Airlines. (In total, Qantas interlines with 142 other airlines.)

Benefits for passengers

The ability to book flights with multiple airlines on a single ticket is convenient for passengers because they don’t need to collect their luggage and check-in again mid-way through their journey (except where required to clear customs). Having all flights on the same ticket also affords protection in case one of the flights on the itinerary is delayed or cancelled.

But an interline agreement doesn’t mean that you can earn frequent flyer points or receive any status benefits when flying on the other airline. At a minimum, airlines would need to offer reciprocal loyalty benefits or codeshare on each others’ flights for this to happen.

An interline agreement also doesn’t necessarily mean that you can get bags checked through to your final destination when travelling on two different tickets, with different airlines. Some airlines may offer this service on separate tickets, but this isn’t guaranteed.

Virgin Australia remains Etihad’s main Australian partner

Etihad and Virgin Australia have been partners for over a decade. In fact, Etihad even used to own part of Virgin Australia.

Etihad continues to codeshare on Virgin Australia domestic flights, and the two airlines still provide reciprocal loyalty benefits to members of both airlines. This isn’t likely to change in the near future.

As of now, when you book a flight to or from Australia on the Etihad website, Etihad is still only offering domestic connections on “EY” coded flights operated by Virgin Australia. (Perhaps Etihad just hasn’t loaded Rex flights or destinations onto its website yet.)

Etihad itself has interline agreements with around 140 airlines (including Virgin Australia, Qantas and Jetstar), but only offers reciprocal frequent flyer benefits with around 22 other carriers.

The creation of interline agreements is no doubt a big deal for Rex, as it will feed passengers connecting from international flights onto its domestic network. It’s also more convenient for passengers who may choose to fly Rex from a regional location to an international gateway, connecting onwards to a Delta or Etihad flight. But in isolation, these kinds of agreements aren’t really much more than that.

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 70 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include economics, aviation & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.