SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS & VIRGIN AUSTRALIA
ROUTES Johannesburg-Perth
START DATE February 11
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE The partnership means that South African Airways (SAA) customers can now enjoy expanded access across Australia, and take advantage of Virgin Australia’s domestic destinations such as Melbourne, Brisbane, and Adelaide.
REMARK SAA also maintains a codeshare agreement with Qantas Airways on flights between Johannesburg and Sydney, along with the aforementioned Johannesburg-Perth route. The two carriers will continue to codeshare exclusively on the Sydney route.
www.flysaa.com and www.virginaustralia.com
SINGAPORE AIRLINES & AIR NEW ZEALAND
ROUTES Singapore-Auckland
START DATE Est. December 2014
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE Air New Zealand passengers, for instance, would be able to take advantage of Singapore’s role as one of Asia’s strongest transit hubs, and access codeshare travel through SIA’s network to destinations in Europe, Southeast Asia and Africa. SIA customers would likewise be able to enjoy the benefits of accessing codeshare travel across Air New Zealand’s domestic network and to selected international destinations.
REMARK Air New Zealand last flew between Auckland and Singapore in 2006, but struggled to gain profitability due to New Zealand being an “end destination” for travel, with limited international connectivity. SIA will also be able to fly the A380 to the country for the first time ever.
www.singaporeair.com and www.airnewzealand.co.nz
EMIRATES & JETSTAR
ROUTES All of Jetstar Airways’ Australia and New Zealand routes as well as Jetstar Asia’s entire network
START DATE April 6
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE The codeshare means that Emirates passengers gain access to 27 new routes and six new destinations including Bali (Indonesia), Hamilton Island (Australia), Dunedin (NZ) and Siem Reap (Cambodia). In addition, members of Emirates Skyward frequent flyer programme will be able to earn and redeem miles for flights on Jetstar-operated routes that have the Emirates code.
REMARK Following last week’s news about Qantas’ record loss of A$252 million (US$225.3 million) (see here), the Australian airline announced that it was going to defer the delivery of the final three B787-8’s that its low-cost subsidiary Jetstar Airways has in the pipeline. In addition, plans for the continuing growth of Jetstar Asia has also been suspended. The partnership could benefit Jetstar as it would enjoy feeder traffic from Emirates.
www.emirates.com and www.jetstar.com
CATHAY PACIFIC & QATAR AIRWAYS
ROUTES Hong Kong-Doha
START DATE March 30
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE Top-tier members of the airlines’ respective loyalty programmes will be entitled to reciprocal benefits that are exclusively for the route. Along with the standard mileage accrual and redemption benefits, business class lounge access will be extended to silver tier members of the Marco Polo Club/Privilege Club regardless of class of travel. In addition, gold tier members will get an extra 15kg of checked baggage allowance, while silver tier members will enjoy an extra 10kg. Finally, silver tier members of both programmes will also enjoy priority boarding and bag handling.
REMARK At the end of October last year, Qatar Airways officially became a member of Oneworld, of which Cathay Pacific is one of the founding members (see story).
www.cathaypacific.com and www.qatarairways.com
Clement Huang
