Virgin Atlantic and Air New Zealand start codeshare flights

Virgin Blue's Velocity Rewards members can now earn points on Air New Zealand Flights by booking AirNZ flights with Virgin Atlantic flight numbers.

Velocity members have fully reciprocal earn-and-redeem arrangements with Virgin Atlantic, but have yet to hear what the Air New Zealand-Virgin Blue  trans-Tasman alliance will mean for them.

Velocity members flying on Air New Zealand should use the frequent flyer insider tip of buying their NZ tickets through Virgin Atlantic, choosing flights with a VS number, so they can earn Velocity points.

Virgin Atlantic passengers can now fly to New Zealand on a single Virgin Atlantic booking via Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sydney on the following flights:

• Los Angeles-Rarotonga
• San Francisco-Auckland
• Sydney-Auckland
• Sydney-Christchurch
• Auckland-Wellington
• Auckland-Christchurch
• Auckland-Queenstown
• Auckland-Rarotonga

For their part Air New Zealand customers can book onto Virgin Atlantic Heathrow-San Francisco and Sydney-Hong Kong  flights with NZ codes.

Virgin Atlantic is jointly owned by Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group (with a 51% majority holding) and Singapore Airlines (49%), although Singapore Airlines has flagged its willingness to sell that stake in what it has called an “underperforming” investment.

Air New Zealand and Virgin Blue are also gearing up for a trans-Tasman alliance to codeshare Australia-New Zealand and connecting domestic flights, as well as offering reciprocal access to lounges and their respective Velocity and Airpoints frequent flyer programs.

David Flynn

David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.