Virgin Australia capped a historic year with the announcement of a new international route with daily return service departure from Cairns-Tokyo (Haneda) on 28 June 2023. The highly anticipated route, which is operational for the first time, is being launched in partnership with the Queensland Government and Cairns Airport through the Aviation Investment Attraction Fund of the Queensland Government.
To enhance access to flights between Australia and Japan, Virgin Australia will strengthen its strategic partnership with All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan’s largest airline and a long-standing and reliable Japanese carrier, creating more value and choice for airline customers.
The partnership will not only offer Virgin Australia and ANA to offer members of the airline’s Velocity frequent flyer program and ANA Mailage Club mutual loyalty benefits throughout 2023 and beyond when traveling with each carrier, but also increase access to village codeshare flights.
Virgin Australia plans to operate the route using the new Boeing 737-8 Max 8 aircraft.
The announcement caps a great year for Virgin Australia, which has returned to profitability after completing the first phase of the airline’s transformation program and recently celebrated the milestone of 11 million Velocity members. Since the reopening of international borders 12 months ago, the airline has resumed flights to Bali, Fiji and Queenstown, starting with Vanuatu, Samoa and Tokyo in the first half of 2023. Today, the airline is also celebrating its maiden flight from Adelaide to Bali departing at 17:50 local time , with plans to start the first Australian service from the Gold Coast to Bali on March 29, 2023.
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