Air New Zealand submits application to MCERT, ACCC for expanded codeshare partnership with Virgin

Air New Zealand submitted (Oct-2026) an application to the New Zealand Ministry for Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport (MCERT) and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to expand its codeshare partnership with Virgin Australia. If approved, Virgin would become Air New Zealand's principle airline partner for domestic flights and connections within Australia. The expanded partnership is expected to provide loyalty benefits for both Velocity and Koru programme members. It would provide Virgin customers with access to expanded codeshare services on all Air New Zealand operated services to 20 domestic destinations. It would also provide Air New Zealand customers access to 30 destinations across Virgin's domestic network on a single itinerary. As previously reported by CAPA, Air New Zealand's codeshare agreement with Qantas Group is scheduled to end in early Apr-2027. [more - original PR]