Virgin Australia Losing Etihad Partnership in 2025

Etihad Airways will cease to be a Virgin Australia partner airline in June 2025, as Qatar Airways replaces the Abu Dhabi-based airline as Virgin’s sole Middle Eastern partner.

Unfortunately, this means Velocity members will soon no longer be able to earn or redeem points with Etihad. It also results in the loss of one of the best current benefits of Velocity Platinum status.

Qatar Airways replacing Etihad as Virgin’s Middle Eastern partner

Virgin Australia is currently requesting regulatory approval for Qatar Airways to purchase a 25% stake in the airline. If this happens, Virgin Australia intends to launch daily flights to Doha, Qatar Airways’ hub, from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.

In a submission to the ACCC last month, Virgin Australia also stated:

Under the Proposed Conduct and subject to certain exceptions:

Qatar Airways will become Virgin Australia’s exclusive interline, codeshare and loyalty partner headquartered in the Middle East or Türkiye (excluding interline for passenger re-accommodation purposes). Virgin Australia will not codeshare on the international flights of other airlines to, from or within the Middle East, Europe, and Africa, and will not acquire or supply any loyalty point accrual services or high value guest services, e.g. benefits such as lounge access provided to Gold members and above, with any airline headquartered in Africa or Europe.

Virgin Australia has since clarified that it actually intends to retain its existing partnerships with South African Airways and Virgin Atlantic.

Further, it now says that Velocity Frequent Flyer members will continue to be able to earn and redeem points on all Singapore Airlines flights. Virgin Australia will just stop codesharing on Singapore Airlines services to Europe.

But Virgin Australia will not be keeping its partnership with Etihad Airways – even if the proposed Qatar Airways acquisition does not go ahead.

“Etihad Airways will cease to be a Velocity partner and, with or without the Proposed Conduct, Virgin Australia does not codeshare on Etihad Airways’ services,” Virgin Australia submitted to the ACCC last week.

That submission also noted that:

Either Applicant is free to be part of a global airline alliance. If Virgin Australia was to join a global airline alliance [e.g. Star Alliance or SkyTeam], this would override any inconsistent exclusivity requirements under the Proposed Conduct.

Virgin Australia argues in its ACCC submission that its customers are better off under the Qatar Airways partnership because Qatar flies to more destinations.

Velocity’s Etihad partnership will end on 1 June 2025

Earlier this week, Etihad Airways confirmed the exact date that its partnership with Virgin Australia will end as 1 June 2025.

“Effective 01 June 2025, Etihad Airways will conclude its unilateral codeshare and bilateral frequent flyer partnership with Virgin Australia. The decision reflects a divergence in the strategic direction of the respective airlines,” Etihad said in a statement.

“As a result, when the termination takes effect passengers will no longer be able to book Virgin Australia-operated flights through Etihad’s booking channels. For Etihad customers with existing bookings that include a Virgin Australia-operated segment, there will be no changes to their itineraries. Members will not earn Guest Miles on Virgin Australia-operated flights from 01 June, 2025 onwards.

“Etihad Airways remains dedicated to serving Australia, as it has since 2007. For Summer 2025, the airline will increase its flights to Sydney and Melbourne, offering Australian guests an exceptional flying experience, loyalty benefits, and connections to its expanding global network.”

What this means for Velocity members

Unfortunately, this change means that Velocity Frequent Flyer members will not be able to earn Velocity points or status credits on Etihad flights from 1 June 2025.

Etihad reward seats will also cease to be available using Velocity points. That’s a bit of a loss, as Etihad is one of a small handful of Virgin Australia partners offering flights from Sydney and Melbourne to Europe. Although Etihad no longer releases Business or First Class reward seats to partner airlines more than 30 days in advance, availability is decent in Economy and in premium cabins when booking closer to departure.

Velocity members also lose access to Etihad’s lounges in Abu Dhabi. The Etihad Business and First Class lounges in Abu Dhabi, accessible to Velocity Gold and Platinum members respectively, are much better than the lounges Qatar Airways makes available in Doha to Velocity Gold and Platinum members flying Qatar Economy Class.

In fact, I wrote a few months ago that the Etihad First Lounge in Abu Dhabi is the best lounge Velocity Platinum members can access anywhere in the world.

Virgin’s partnership with Etihad has become less relevant since 2020

While the end of this partnership is a loss for Velocity members, it’s currently not what it used to be anyway.

Etihad Airways first began to partner with Virgin Australia in 2010. This was a fairly significant alliance at the time, with Virgin and Etihad codesharing on each others’ flights. Virgin even launched its own Boeing 777 services from Sydney to Abu Dhabi. (Ironically, those same Boeing 777s now fly for Qatar Airways.)

Last decade, Etihad Airways even purchased ownership stakes in Virgin Australia. It eventually owned almost a quarter of the airline.

But the partnership has been much more limited since 2020. That year saw the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Virgin Australia entering voluntary administration, Etihad ceasing to own any part of the airline and the expiration of Virgin’s ACCC authorisation to codeshare on Etihad flights.

Virgin Australia’s latest submission to the ACCC argues that only a small percentage of Velocity members have earned or redeemed points with Etihad Airways in the last financial year.

“This limited uptake is due in part to the reduced frequencies which Etihad Airways operates to / from Australia,” Virgin Australia wrote.

Etihad will in fact increase services to Sydney and Melbourne next year, and there are rumours that it will announce a resumption of flights from Abu Dhabi to Perth as early as next Monday. But it is true that Etihad’s capacity into Australia is significantly lower now than it was last decade.

There will no doubt be some further updates from both Virgin Australia and Etihad Airways as June 2025 draws closer.

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 90 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include aviation, economics & 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.