Etihad gets down to business with Virgin Blue
Etihad Airways has appointed Robin Middleton to the new role of manager alliances in which he will oversee Etihad’s relationship with the Virgin Blue Group in Australia.
The Australian national will be based in Brisbane, the home base of Virgin Blue, relocating from the US where he was Etihad’s regional general manager Americas.
Etihad began selling, marketing and distributing its joint product with alliance partner Virgin Blue in Australia on October 1 last year.
Virgin Blue’s international arm, V Australia, will launch direct services to Abu Dhabi on February 24, giving Etihad and V Australia a total of 27 weekly services between Abu Dhabi and Australia.
These services include double-daily flights between Abu Dhabi and Sydney, daily between Abu Dhabi and Melbourne, and six frequencies per week between Abu Dhabi and Brisbane.
Meanwhile, Etihad Airways this week concluded an extensive codeshare agreement with Air New Zealand.
The deal will see Etihad’s ‘EY’ code placed on Air New Zealand flights between Sydney and the cities of Christchurch, Rotorua, Wellington and Queenstown.
The ‘EY’ will also be placed on Air New Zealand flights between Brisbane and Auckland; and Brisbane and Christchurch; as well as between Beijing and Auckland.
The ‘EY’ code will also be placed on Air New Zealand flights into Melbourne from Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
Air New Zealand’s will place their ‘NZ’ code on all Etihad’s flights to London Heathrow, and its 11 flights a week from Abu Dhabi to Sydney, three flights a week to Brisbane, seven flights a week to Melbourne and three flights a week from Beijing to Abu Dhabi.
The agreement will integrate Air New Zealand Airpoints and Etihad’s Etihad Guest loyalty programs, enabling customers able to earn and spend miles on each other’s flights.
Ian Jarrett
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