Virgin Australia International (VA, Brisbane International) will launch two new services to New Zealand to replace the services currently operated under the auspices of a code-share agreement with Air New Zealand following the termination of this trans-Tasman partnership at the end of October 2018.
According to the ch-aviation schedules module, the Australian carrier will launch 3x weekly service out of Melbourne Tullamarine to Queenstown International, as well as 5x weekly service out of Sydney Kingsford Smith to Wellington. Both routes will be operated by Virgin Australia. Currently, Virgin Australia codeshares on flights on these routes operated by Air New Zealand 3x and 13x weekly respectively.
Air New Zealand will continue to serve both routes following the termination of its partnership with Virgin Australia.
Virgin Australia Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director John Borghetti has said earlier the post-Air New Zealand era would present both Virgin Australia and Tigerair Australia with opportunities in the trans-Tasman market.
The carriers' partnership currently includes a number of Virgin-operated domestic services in Australia, mainly out of Brisbane International, Sydney, Melbourne, and Gold Coast Coolangatta, as well as ANZ-operated domestic routes out of Auckland International, Christchurch, Dunedin, Queenstown, and Wellington. Both carriers also operate trans-Tasman flights included in the codeshare deal.
