THAI and Virgin Blue have today jointly announced the signing of a interline agreement that sees the carriers join forces with an enhanced and seamless product for international travellers flying between and within Australia and Thailand.
The agreement means Virgin Blue Airlines will be the carrying airline from 13 key domestic destinations in Australia, via THAI’s four international gateway ports: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth to both Bangkok and Phuket in Thailand.
The Virgin Blue destinations included in the interline agreement are: Adelaide, Canberra, Broome, Mackay, Rockhampton, Maroochydore, Cairns, Townsville, Hobart, Launceston, Ballina, Coffs Harbour and the Gold Coast. All these ports will connect with the two most popular destinations in Thailand, Bangkok and Phuket via the Australian capital city gateways for Thai Airways International.
This is the first interline partner for Virgin Blue where interline e-ticketing is possible and has been made possible by the joint IT efforts by both airlines to provide the IT capabilities. IT means Virgin Blue and THAI are ahead of the deadline imposed by International Air Transportation Association (IATA) for all international airlines to be e-ticket compliant by May 2008. At the initial stage, the THAI and Virgin Blue partnership will cover flights between Australia and Thailand, with the intention to extend the agreement to other Thai Airways destinations around the world
Special fares have been created for travel on THAI and Virgin Blue sectors only and to be issued on the same ticket. The fare distribution channel will be via the Global Distribution Systems of Amadeus, Galileo and Sabre.
For travellers, the relationship between the two carriers means an enhanced travel experience with the interline of checked luggage available at THAI’s gateways for international travellers through to their final destination.
Kn Korakot Chatasingha, General Manager, Australia for Thai Airways International welcomed the new agreement.
“Thai Airways International is very pleased to be working with Virgin Blue Airlines and looks forward to a strong partnership aimed at building even greater tourism links between Australia and Thailand.”
Virgin Blue Chief Executive, Brett Godfrey, said, “This will be a tremendous benefit to travellers and gives Virgin Blue a well-established partner airline to operate services to a new and hugely popular destination. We are delighted to be joining together with such a reputable and highly regarded airline as Thai Airways International and look forward to opening up other new global ports through our new friends at THAI.
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