Virgin Australia Gets Green Light For Qatar Airways Code-share Fights

Virgin Australia passengers will now be able to jet off to Paris, Milan, and Rome on newly minted partner Qatar Airways, with code-share agreements to the trio of European cities receiving the official rubber stamp this week.

Qatar Airways currently flies from its Doha hub to Paris – with some of those services on its flagship Airbus A380 – and Nice, along with Italian the draw cards of Rome and Milan.

Virgin already has code-share agreements for France and Italy in place with Etihad Airways and Singapore Airlines – both of which fly to Paris, Rome, and Milan – but applied to Australia’s International Air Service Commission for “the use of the capacity for code sharing with Qatar Airways.”

Under the determination, a VA flight number will be placed on Qatar Airways services, allowing travellers to book their entire journey as a single itinerary with seamless ticketing.

They also typically unlock additional benefits for frequent flyers, such as a larger haul of points and status credits.

As previously reported, Qatar Airways will soon begin double-daily flights to Melbourne, with one of those incorporating a leg to Canberra.

This has the potential to open up more seats, including Qatar’s superb business class Qsuites, for Virgin’s Velocity members to book with their points.