AIR INDIA: Announces codeshare with Virgin Australia

Sixteen Australian and New Zealand cities will be added to Air India’s network via a codeshare agreement with Virgin Australia.

Unilateral partner codeshare agreement

This is a unilateral codeshare. That means it allows Air India to add the ‘AI’ code to flights operated by Virgin Australia. Given the silence about the partnership on the Virgin Australia website, ‘unilateral’ would seem to mean ‘one-way’ in favour of Air India.

The 16 cities in Australia and New Zealand that can have the ‘AI’ prefix are Adelaide, Ballina/Byron Bay, Brisbane, Cairns, Canberra, Darwin, Gold Coast, Hamilton Island, Hobart, Launceston, Melbourne, Newcastle, Perth, Queenstown (New Zealand), Sunshine Coast, and Sydney.

Virgin Australia are quoted in the Air India press release:

“We are pleased to partner with Air India to make it easier for their customers to explore everything Australia has to offer. India is a growing tourism market for Australia and this partnership will encourage travellers arriving on one of Air India’s 14 weekly flights to explore more of our wonderful country thanks to seamless onward connections on the Virgin Australia network.”

Alistair Hartley, Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer, Virgin Australia.

Again, this echoes the one-sided nature of the code share.

Air India to Australia

The former national airline of India operates 14 weekly flights between India and Australia, departing from Delhi for Melbourne and Sydney. These flights are on Boeing 787 Dreamliners, which have 18 Business Class flat beds and 238 Economy Class seats.

Codeshare bookings at the Air India end started on 11 February 2025. The first codeshare flights will operate from today, 18 February 2025.

Where does Qatar Airways fit in?

I can only speculate since Virgin Australia has not been overt about what its arrangements with Qatar Airways might cover. We don’t know the specifics of the purchase agreement currently subject to Australian Government approval.

Qatar does fly to the subcontinent including India, covering the following destinations: Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, Colombo, Kochi, Dhaka, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Islamabad, Karachi, Kathmandu, Lahore, Nagpur, Peshawar and Thiruvananthapuram. So, that may preclude a codeshare agreement with Air India that covers any of those destinations.

2PAXfly Takeout

A one-sided agreement in favour of one airline partner and not the other is unusual, although not unheard of.

The announcement does not make clear that Virgin flights carrying an AI code would allow Air India’s Maharaja Club frequent flyer program members to earn reward points and tier points.

With no mention of Virgin Australia ‘VA’ codes being added to Air India codes, this looks like a one-way agreement. Velocity members won’t be able to earn points on Air India flights. As of today, Air India is not even listed as an airline partner on the Virgin Australia website.

Any bilateral agreement with Air India will be subject to the purchase of 25% of Virgin Australia by Qatar Airlines. Qatar also has a presence in the subcontinent.

I’ll try to watch if the nature of this agreement changes and it becomes a bilateral partnership agreement.

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