Jet Airways and Virgin Atlantic have announced a further expansion of their codeshare agreement between India and the United States, providing enhanced connectivity via London Heathrow. The new agreement will make it easier for guests to combine flights from Jet Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Delta Air Lines in a single booking.
From April 19, 2017, Jet Airways guests travelling between India and the United States can connect through London Heathrow on to nine US destinations operated by Virgin Atlantic – Atlanta, Boston, Newark, Washington (IAD), New York, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco and Seattle.
This expansion builds on the existing agreement between Jet Airways and Virgin Atlantic in place since 2009, enabling Virgin Atlantic guests to travel on Jet Airways operated services between Mumbai and London Heathrow in addition to the airline’s own direct Delhi to London service. In 2015 this codeshare was extended on to Jet Airways domestic services allowing Virgin Atlantic guests to travel between London Heathrow and five destinations across India via Delhi or Mumbai.
Gaurang Shetty, whole-time director, Jet Airways, said, “The new codeshares build on the success of our ongoing cooperation with Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic over London Heathrow and will provide our guests with more connectivity to and within the United States. Further, our loyalty programme partnership will also enable the frequent flyers of both carriers to accrue and redeem their miles across each other’s entire network.”
Shai Weiss, chief commercial officer, Virgin Atlantic, added, “This innovative codeshare allows customers to tailor their journey using a combination of flights from Jet Airways, Virgin Atlantic and their transatlantic partner Delta Air Lines – whilst continuing to benefit from a single check in and bag drop.”
In October last year, Delta Air Lines and Jet Airways announced a codeshare cooperation between India and United States over London Heathrow, where Delta guests flying between North America and India can connect on flights operated by Jet Airways to 20 destinations within India. The Delta codeshare destinations include Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bengaluru, Calicut, Chennai, Cochin, Coimbatore, Goa, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mangalore, Pune, Trivandrum and Vadodara. Likewise guests flying on Jet Airways can connect on to Delta operated services via London Heathrow to 18 cities across the US, including Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, New York-JFK, Minneapolis, Portland, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, Austin, Charlotte, Columbus, Denver, Las Vegas, Orlando, Phoenix, San Diego, St. Louis and Tampa.
“Delta’s codeshare with Jet Airways has seen positive growth in passenger numbers since we launched the agreement six months ago, reflecting the strong demand for air links between the United States and India,” commented Nat Pieper, senior vice president – Europe, Middle East, Africa and India, Delta Air Lines.
Tickets under the new codeshare are now available for sale for travel effective April 19, 2017.
