Delta and Virgin Atlantic are to officially begin their new joint venture across the Atlantic from the start of 2014.
The JV between the two carriers will allow the co-ordination of schedules and revenue-sharing on all routes between the UK and the US. It is similar to the joint business already operated by rivals British Airways and American Airlines.
The new co-ordinated schedule will launch from April 2014 when Delta will also move flights on its key business routes – New York (JFK), Boston and Seattle – to Heathrow’s Terminal 3 to co-locate with Virgin. The airlines are also to operate joint corporate and agency sales programmes.
Delta said it had already increased sales on its UK services by $25 million since the introduction of codeshares with Virgin in July and expected this to rise to $120 million per year through the joint venture.
Edward Bastian, Delta’s president, said: “Prior to the JV with Virgin, we were big in Europe - but big in the secondary markets.
“We are proud to say that with the Virgin Atlantic partnership, we are going to have a significant service offering in each one of the top 10 markets to Europe, which is unmatched by any of our peers.”
Bastian added that it was co-locating its most important business routes to Heathrow’s Terminal 3 because they offered the “greatest opportunity” for the JV.
“We’re going to look for additional opportunities on the efficiency, maintenance and handling, because we're not just a partner across the JV, we are an owner of 49 per cent of the company (Virgin Atlantic),” said Bastian.
delta.com
virgin-atlantic.com