Virgin Atlantic passengers will have greater access to the Indian market after the carrier inked a codeshare agreement with IndiGo.
Passengers booking Virgin Atlantic flights from London Heathrow (LHR) to Delhi (DEL) and Mumbai (BOM) will be able to connect on IndiGo flights to seven Indian destinations initially, with another nine to be added later.
Codeshare flights will be able to be booked from Sept. 27. The expansion from seven to 16 cities will occur at an undisclosed date.
The initial seven destinations able to be booked via a single Virgin Atlantic-IndiGo itinerary beyond DEL and BOM include Ahmedabad (AMD), Amritsar (ATQ), Bengaluru (BLR), Chennai (MAA), Goa (GOI), Hyderabad (HYD) and Kolkata (CCU). The additional nine cities to come later include Chandigarh (IXC), Coimbatore (CJB), Indore (IDR), Jaipur (JAI), Kochi (COK), Nagpur (NAG), Pune (PNQ), Vadodara (BDQ) and Visakhapatnam (VTZ).
“This summer marks our largest ever flying program from India with three daily [nonstop] services to London and our new partnership takes our commitment to even greater heights,” Virgin Atlantic CCO Juha Jarvinen said. “IndiGo is India’s largest airline and its extensive network will offer Virgin Atlantic customers even more choice when traveling between the UK and India.”
IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta added, “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.”