Qantas adds more destinations to IndiGo codeshare

The deal with the low-cost carrier means more than 250 new flights are available for booking across 21 routes, including Mumbai and Goa. A full list of destinations is at the bottom of this article.

Qantas currently operates four return flights from Melbourne to Delhi per week and four return flights from Sydney to Bengaluru per week.

Codeshares are a more formal tie-up than interline service agreements and allow customers to book with one airline but fly with another.

It means those connecting onwards across two different carriers can use a single bag drop as well as share loyalty perks, effectively expanding an airline’s international and local network.

Qantas Frequent Flyers can earn and redeem points on connecting IndiGo flights (with the QF code), and IndiGo recognises loyalty benefits for tiered members, including priority check-in and priority baggage.

Qantas customers travelling on IndiGo can also carry the same baggage allowance as their flight from Australia as well as receiving complimentary food and drinks.

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The tie-up with IndiGo comes in addition to the Flying Kangaroo being a member of the OneWorld codeshare alliance, which travels to more than 900 destinations.

It comes as airlines globally are beginning to both rebuild their networks and expand international partnerships as the last remaining COVID-19 restrictions begin to be dismantled.

In November, Australian Aviation reported how rival Virgin resumed its full codeshare partnership with Singapore Airlines following a pandemic pause.

Virgin suspended all international flying on 30 March 2020 and has since relied on partnerships with larger carriers such as United and Qatar to fly longer-haul routes.

It has, though, restarted shorter services to Bali and Fiji and plans a new Tokyo service this year.

The deal with Singapore opens up the carrier’s 42 destinations covering 23 countries, including Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, Seoul in South Korea, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and Paris in Europe, London in the United Kingdom and Jakarta in Indonesia.

In return, Singapore offers codeshares on 64 Australian routes covering 31 destinations on Virgin’s domestic and international network, including the recent addition of Queenstown in New Zealand.

Virgin also restarted flights to New Zealand, which chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka said marked a “significant day” for the airline.

“Australians and New Zealanders have a close bond, and we are proud to be creating a new gateway between the countries for friends and family to visit each other, businesses to flourish and holiday-makers to seek adventure with more choice and great value airfares,” she said.

“Value, choice and great service are at the heart of Virgin Australia, and we look forward to bringing these values to Queenstown with our expanded network.”

New codeshare destinations

• Guwahati
• Indore
• Chandigarh
• Mangalore
• Jaipur
• Nagpur
• Thiruvananthapuram
• Visakhapatnam

Existing codeshare destinations

• Ahmedabad
• Amritsar
• Bengaluru
• Chennai
• Delhi
• Goa
• Mumbai
• Kochi
• Kolkata
• Hyderabad
• Lucknow
• Patna
• Pune