Virgin Australia will consider joining one of the three global airline alliances only from 2012.
"We've got so much stuff going on at Virgin Australia that that is really not in our thinking at the moment. That is something we'll think about in 2012 and beyond," CEO John Borghetti said on the sidelines of the IATA AGM.
The carrier's bilateral alliance with Singapore Airlines, which includes codeshares across their network, reciprocal frequent flyer membership benefits, and joint marketing and sales of flights, has led to speculation that it could opt for Star Alliance, which includes SIA.
Air New Zealand, another Star Alliance member, bought a 14.9% stake in Virgin in January and the two airlines have announced plans for a joint trans-Tasman network. This will connect ANZ's domestic network of 26 ports to Virgin Australia's domestic network of 31 domestic ports.
Borghetti, however, reiterated that the "relationship between Virgin Australia and Singapore Airlines shouldn't be confused with anything else other than that."
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
