Emirates and Virgin Blue's long-haul international arm V Australia will start codesharing in October on trans-Tasman routes.
The carriers say that on 25 October, V Australia will place its code on Emirates' daily services from Sydney to Christchurch and Auckland in New Zealand.
"Emirates and the Virgin Blue Group already share a strong partnership via reciprocal benefits within the two airline's frequent flyer programmes," they add, pointing out that Emirates is also an interline partner of Virgin Blue.
Emirates operates Airbus A380s on the Sydney-Auckland route using fifth freedom rights, and it serves the Sydney-Christchurch market using Boeing 777s.
The trans-Tasman service is a highly competitive market with Air New Zealand, Qantas Airways, Jetstar and Virgin Blue's Pacific Blue all fighting for market share.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
