SIA, Virgin Australia in codeshare pact 

(MENAFN - Arab News) Singapore Airlines and Virgin Australia announced the expansion of their codeshare agreement to cover further destinations in Australia, Asia and Europe.

Codesharing has been extended with immediate effect to all of Virgin Australia's domestic destinations, offering SIA customers access to 32 Australian cities. SIA also intends to further expand codesharing in the coming months to include trans-Tasman flights between Australia and the New Zealand cities of Dunedin, Queenstown and Wellington, subject to regulatory approval.

In the first quarter of 2013, Virgin Australia will in turn extend its current codeshare with SIA to cover connections from the East Coast of Australia to Europe and additional cities in Asia, via SIA's hub in Singapore. Virgin Australia currently codeshares on SIA flights to Europe from Adelaide, Perth and Darwin. In total, Virgin Australia customers will now have access to 64 destinations in Asia and 12 destinations in Europe on the SIA and SilkAir networks from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Darwin.

SIA and Virgin Australia entered into a wide-ranging partnership last year. In addition to codesharing, the alliance covers reciprocal frequent-flyer program benefits and lounge access, coordinated schedules to provide seamless connections, and joint sales, marketing and distribution activities.

SIA and subsidiary SilkAir together serve 97 destinations in 36 countries across six continents. Virgin Australia serves 49 destinations in 14 countries.

Holiday makers and students will benefit from the SIA and Virgin Australia codeshare expansion as it covers many cities in Australia, providing more travel options.