Virgin Australia and Delta to renew partnership for next 10 years

Virgin Australia and Delta Air Lines, both of which are currently into a business partnership, have announced that they are not planning to add further capacity between the mainland United States and Australia. The capacity on the route will continue to be steady.

The move of both the carriers would benefit their rival Qantas Airways, which is presently the dominant airline on the trans-Pacific route. Australia’s flagship carrier Qantas Airways has the largest 54 percent market share on the route.

Virgin Australia and Delta Air Lines, the two alliance partners, together command a 25 market share, while United Airlines has a 21 percent market share on Australia-U.S. transpacific route.

Media reports said that the alliance partnership of Virgin Australia and Delta Air Lines is coming to an end and both want to renew it once again. The reports said that both the carriers have applied to the competition regulator for renewing their alliance for another 10 years.

Virgin Australia is presently operating daily flights on Brisbane-Los Angeles and Sydney-Los Angeles routes. However, Delta Air Lines is offering only a daily service between Sydney and Los Angeles.

Media reports said that there were speculations that Delta Air Lines was planning to launch flights between Los Angeles and Melbourne. The news however didn’t prove to be true. Edward Bastian, President of Delta Air Lines, was reported as saying that there were no plans to introduce flights on Melbourne-Los Angeles route anytime soon.
  
Bastian while making a joint presentation with Virgin Australia chief executive John Borghetti said that both the airlines wanted to focus on the popular Los Angeles-Sydney route, which is a popular leisure and business travel destination. This route is critical and lucrative for both the alliance partners.