Virgin Australia is boosting its new Melbourne-Hong service to a business-friendly daily schedule from November 12.
The airline had been flying five times weekly using its Airbus A330-200 fleet, featuring 20 business class suites, as well as 255 economy seats in a 2-4-2 configuration.
Virgin’s business class was recognised by AirlineRating’s 2017 awards as the world’s best but its A330 economy seats are tighter than those international passengers are used to on the airline’s Boeing 777s, offering a 31-inch seat pitch and a width of 17.4 inches.
There are also eight “Economy X” seats that offer additional legroom, premium check-in and boarding, preferred overhead locker space, guaranteed first meal choice and noise-cancelling headsets.
The new schedule will see VA87 depart daily from Melbourne late morning to midday and return service VA86 depart Hong Kong each evening and arrive in Melbourne the next morning.
“Hong Kong is a very important part of our strategy for Asia,’’ said acting group executive Virgin Australia Rob Sharp said in a statement.
“Our schedule is also conveniently timed, enabling guests travelling from Australia to arrive early evening in Hong Kong and those travelling from Hong Kong to arrive in Melbourne in the morning.
“It also enables travellers to connect easily to other destinations in Australia and China, through our partner Hong Kong Airlines.’’
The Melbourne-Hong Kong route if the first step in plans by Virgin to increase its footprint in the region and capitalise on its Chinese connections. This includes plans to launch a service to mainland China.
It is codesharing with Hong Kong Airlines and the Australian competition regulator recently approved a strategic alliance with Hong Kong Airlines, HK Express and HNA Aviation for five years.
The Aussie airline is offering codeshare services on Hong Kong Airlines’ five return services per week between Hong Kong and the Gold Coast and Cairns with an interline agreement on destinations in mainland China.
Hong Kong Airlines customers travelling to or from Hong Kong will enjoy codeshare flights to 11 destinations on the Virgin Australia network from July 5.
These include select flights within Australia as well as services between Melbourne and Hong Kong, Gold Coast and Auckland, Melbourne and Christchurch and Melbourne and Auckland.
A reciprocal partnership between Velocity Frequent Flyer and Fortune Wings Club — the loyalty program of Hong Kong Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Capital Airlines and Tianjin Airlines — gives members of both loyalty programs the opportunity to earn points and status recognition on eligible routes across the airlines’ flight networks.
Lounge access is also available to Virgin Australia customers in a new Hong Kong Airlines lounge, “Club Autus”, opening earlier this month and offering more convenient access to Virgin’s gate.
Located on the seventh floor of Hong Kong International Airport’s midfield concourse, the lounge is divided into sections catering for needs such as business, leisure, family and personal care.
The ability to redeem points is in the pipeline.
