Jet Airways To Codeshare With Virgin
By Neelam Mathews
Jet Airways has announced a code-sharing agreement with Virgin Atlantic starting May 6 on its double daily service between Mumbai and London Heathrow.
Jet Airways has a code share with Brussels Airlines, in which Virgin has a share.
Virgin pulled its daily flights to Mumbai on May 3, four years after it started flying the route. An official said the carrier would reconsider the flights “when the economy looks up and the sector turns profitable.” The airline has not stopped its Delhi-London flights.
Cut-throat competition with one-way fares down to around $200 without taxes has led to airlines bleeding on the sector.
The partnership has resulted in many questioning the alliance agreement announced by Jet and Kingfisher a few months ago that has yet to take off. The alliance was expected to look at complementing routes and technical collaboration, to help rationalize costs.
“The code-share agreement between Virgin Atlantic and Jet Airways represents a significant step forward in strengthening the relationship between our two airlines...The Mumbai-London route holds great potential and we were looking to enhance our presence on this route by means of a code-share partnership with a carrier whose commitment to service and product quality closely mirrors our own. In Virgin Atlantic, we believe we have found that partner,” said Jet Airways CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schauer.
“The new codeshare will be particularly useful for passengers travelling between many points on Virgin Atlantic’s worldwide network and Mumbai who will be able to make convenient, same-terminal connections at London Heathrow’s Terminal 3,” said Edmond Rose, director of commercial and revenue planning at Virgin Atlantic.
Photo: Arpingstone via WikiMedia
