How do you Europe? Layover mainstays tend to be Singapore and Dubai, but this latest development could tempt you to go via Los Angeles or Hong Kong.
Even if you don’t have time to check out Long Beach or Lantau Island on your stopover, a new Virgin partnership means that guests from the UK and Australia can now “travel effortlessly” between the two countries on Virgin airlines, via LA or HK.
This codeshare offering will include Virgin Australia’s Sydney-Hong Kong services that will commence operations on 2 July, in addition to the Melbourne-Hong Kong services already on offer. Virgin have said of the changes that:
“This is exciting news for customers, as the codeshare will provide them with more flexibility when booking long-haul services between the two countries.”
Key benefits include, “providing guests travelling from the UK with options for convenient connections to eight cities on Virgin Australia’s domestic network (Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Canberra, Gold Coast, Hobart, Melbourne and Sydney), expanding the customer offering to include new connections on Virgin Australia’s domestic network, being Adelaide-Sydney, Adelaide-Melbourne and Canberra-Melbourne; and allowing guests to organise all flights, including the connecting flights, under the one booking, with a single check-in and baggage drop.”
Virgin have also said that the new arrangement will allow Virgin Atlantic Flying Club members to earn miles, and Virgin Australia’s Velocity Frequent Flyer members to earn Points and Status Credits, “when flying with either airline under the codeshare.”
Virgin Atlantic offers up to three daily services between London Heathrow and Los Angeles, with a daily service to Hong Kong. Both routes are operated on its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, the newest aircraft in its fleet.
As for LA, Virgin Australia operates up to 18 flights per week (from Australia) on its Boeing 777-300ER fleet. It also offers daily services between Melbourne and Hong Kong, and will be launching daily flights between Sydney and Hong Kong on the 2nd of July 2018—using its A330-200 aircraft—which features the award-winning Business Class product, ‘The Business’.
RELATED: We’ve Ranked The Best Business Class Experiences For Your Next Trans-Pacific Flight