IndiGo, the country’s largest airline, and Virgin Atlantic, the British carrier, announced a codeshare agreement. According to the agreement, Virgin Atlantic will be able to sell seats to passengers connecting onto IndiGo flights. Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Goa, Delhi, and Mumbai are among the initial codeshare destinations in India. Kochi, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Pune, Coimbatore, Nagpur, Vadodara, Indore, and Visakhapatnam will be among the new destinations, according to a press release.
Under the codeshare partnership, customers booking a Virgin Atlantic ticket will be able to fly on the airline’s London Heathrow to Delhi and Mumbai flights and connect to and from 7 additional cities in India.
Later this year, the agreement will be expanded to cover a total of 16 destinations throughout India, as well as connections onto Virgin Atlantic’s extensive US network operated via London Heathrow, the release said. Codesharing allows an airline to book its passengers on its partner carriers and provide seamless travel to destinations where it has no presence.
Ronojoy Dutta, Chief Executive Officer and Wholetime Director, IndiGo said: “We are pleased to announce our codeshare with Virgin Atlantic to provide enhanced connectivity to the passengers. This will not only help offer a seamless travel experience from London to as many as 16 destinations in India, but also open up international trade opportunities throughout the country via enhanced accessibility. We look forward to having Virgin Atlantic’s customers on our lean clean flying machine, as we extend our on-time, affordable, courteous and hassle-free travel experience.”
Before this, Indigo also entered the codeshare agreement with multiple other international airlines. Besides Virgin Atlantic, airlines like American Airlines, Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines, and Air France-KLM have already signed codeshare agreements with them. These agreements help Indigo in increasing the volume of its passengers and its network expansion.
