Long-haul carrier Virgin Atlantic is opening up a new range of routes in India through a link-up with one of the nation's main regional airlines. It has partnered with IndiGo for a new codeshare offering seamless connections and increased travel opportunities for passengers.
The codeshare partnership will mean customers booking a Virgin Atlantic ticket will be able to fly on the airline’s London Heathrow to Delhi and Mumbai flights and connect to and from seven additional cities in India. Later this year the agreement will be expanded to cover a total of 16 destinations throughout India, as well as connections onto Virgin Atlantic’s extensive US network operated via London Heathrow.
The agreement will allow Virgin Atlantic to sell seats to passengers connecting onto IndiGo flights. The initial codeshare destinations in India include Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Goa, Delhi and Mumbai. The additional destinations will include Kochi, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Pune, Coimbatore, Nagpur, Vadodara, Indore and Visakhapatnam.
IndiGo is amongst the fastest growing low-cost carriers in the world with a fleet of 276 aircraft operating more than 1,600 daily flights and connecting 74 domestic and 26 international destinations. The codeshare flights will be available this week for booking for travel beyond September 27, subject to government approval.
Juha Jarvinen, chief commercial officer at Virgin Atlantic, said: “We’re thrilled to launch a new codeshare partnership with IndiGo. This summer marks our largest ever flying programme from India with three daily direct services to London and our new partnership takes our commitment to even greater heights.
"IndiGo is India’s largest airline and its extensive network will offer Virgin Atlantic customers even more choice when travelling between the UK and India, as well as offering seamless connections for the onward travel across our extensive US route network. This new partnership aims to respond to the large, fast-growing demand for visiting friends and relatives, leisure as well as business travellers looking for more choice between UK and India.”
Ronojoy Dutta, IndiGo chief executive, added: “We are pleased to announce our codeshare with Virgin Atlantic to provide enhanced connectivity to the passengers. This will not only help offer a seamless travel experience from London to as many as 16 destinations in India, but also open up international trade opportunities throughout the country via enhanced accessibility.
"We look forward to having Virgin Atlantic’s customers on our lean clean flying machine, as we extend our on-time, affordable, courteous and hassle-free travel experience.”
