Virgin Australia and Air New Zealand are getting back together… well, sort of, anyway.
Previously, the two airlines had coordinated on prices, schedules and service levels across the Tasman as part of a deep joint venture partnership. This had also included full reciprocal frequent flyer benefits for Velocity Frequent Flyer and Airpoints members across both airlines’ joint networks.
In 2018, that partnership came to an end after Air New Zealand, which previously even owned a stake in Virgin Australia, decided not to renew it. Following this, Virgin Australia briefly became a “full service” airline on trans-Tasman routes before eventually closing down its New Zealand business at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Virgin Australia did not return to New Zealand until late 2022, and only reinstated flights to Queenstown. Virgin no longer flies to Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington or Dunedin – and has no plans to resume services to these destinations, either.
In the meantime, Air New Zealand launched a codeshare partnership with Qantas to provide connectivity to each others’ domestic networks. The Qantas-Air New Zealand deal also includes reciprocal lounge access when booked on codeshare services. But that agreement does not cover trans-Tasman routes (nor would competition regulators ever approve that).
Virgin Australia’s new partnership with Air New Zealand
Last year, Virgin Australia announced its intention to resume a trans-Tasman partnership with Air New Zealand.
The good news for Velocity Frequent Flyer members is that this has now been approved by competition regulators. It will launch in late 2024. The bad news is that this new partnership is much less comprehensive.
Virgin Australia customers will be able to book VA codeshare flights on Air New Zealand’s services from Australia to Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. When booking a Virgin Australia codeshare, Velocity members will be able to earn Velocity points and status credits. Velocity Gold and Platinum members will also gain access to Air New Zealand’s international lounges when flying across the Tasman.
Virgin Australia says that Velocity members will be able to redeem points on Air New Zealand services as well.
What’s not included in this partnership?
Notably, Velocity members won’t be able to book Air New Zealand codeshares on flights to or from Queenstown. As Virgin Australia also operates on the Sydney-Queenstown, Melbourne-Queenstown and Brisbane-Queenstown routes, competition regulators won’t allow the airlines to codeshare on those routes.
On the other trans-Tasman routes, the Kiwi airline will still set the prices that Virgin Australia sells codeshare tickets at.
Virgin Australia codeshares won’t be available on other Air New Zealand routes, such as those to the United States or Pacific Islands.
Also of note, this partnership is completely unilateral. There are no benefits available to Air New Zealand Airpoints members on Virgin Australia.
We’ll have to wait a bit longer to see the full details about this partnership. Overall, it’s good news for Velocity members heading to New Zealand and certainly better than nothing. But if you’re expecting an arrangement like the one last decade, you’ll likely be disappointed.
