[BAG]

Virgin Blue’s international airline, V Australia, and US based award winning airline, Virgin America, have signed an Australia-U.S interline agreement offering seamless travel on the networks of each carrier and across the trans-Pacific route.

Both Virgin Blue Group and Virgin America are heralded as being the best in the business, with Virgin Blue taking out numerous awards in recent years, including Best National Airline three years running at the Australian National Travel Industry Awards. In the US market, Virgin America was also named “Best Domestic Airline” in the Condé Nast Traveler 2008 Readers' Choice Awards and "Best Domestic Airline" in Travel + Leisure 2008 World's Best Awards.

The agreement will allow Guests to purchase a single ticket online, for travel in the U.S and Australia on either carrier. Guests can also book via their travel agent or through V Australia’s call centre.

The new interline arrangement will go live from today Monday (for travel agents bookings on the GDS system and 8 June for anyone booking via the website) for travel from Monday 8 June 2009.

The agreement will allow Guests to enjoy a seamless “Virgin” experience as Virgin America and V Australia share Los Angeles World Airport’s newly redesigned Terminal 3. Guests arriving at LAX on V Australia international flights will come through the Tom Bradley International Terminal before being directed to Terminal 3 - a short walk to the Virgin America gates.

Both airlines will transfer baggage between connecting flights and to the final destination once Guests arriving on V Australia’s international flight have collected their checked bags and cleared customs.

The interline partnership offers great choice for V Australia Guests to connect to and from a wide range of Virgin America destinations including Seattle, San Francisco, New York, Boston and Washington DC.

Virgin Blue Chief Executive, Brett Godfrey, said, “We are delighted to be formally partnering with Virgin America to offer great travel benefits not only from Australia to the US on V Australia but beyond Los Angeles across Virgin America’s extensive and expanding route network.”

“The new agreement is a natural fit for both airlines as we share the Virgin commitment to exceptional customer service, quality and value for money. We may be newcomers to our respective markets but we’re keen to inspire an industry revolution to benefit travellers and invigorate trans-Pacific travel.”

V Australia offers a three class trans-Pacific travel option with direct flights from Brisbane and Sydney to Los Angeles, with direct Melbourne-Los Angeles flights scheduled for September this year (subject to regulatory approval). Virgin America also offers a three class domestic US service. The interline agreement will make it even easier to fly around the world on Virgin Airlines with V Australia to Los Angeles, Virgin America to five cities, Virgin Atlantic US connecting gateways to London, then back through Asia to Sydney , again on Virgin Atlantic.

Guests will later this year be able to earn Velocity Points when flying on Virgin America and will also be able to redeem Velocity Points for flights on Virgin America.