This morning, Virgin Atlantic announced they will join the SkyTeam alliance.
Virgin Atlantic is to become the newest member of the global airline alliance SkyTeam in early 2023.
Virgin Atlantic will be SkyTeam’s first and only UK member airline, enhancing the alliance’s transatlantic network and services to and from London Heathrow and Manchester Airport.
About SkyTeam
The SkyTeam alliance is the youngest of the three major alliances. It was founded in June 2000 by Delta Air Lines, Aeromexico, Air France, and Korean Air.
The alliance currently has 18 full members. Aeroflot was also a member, though its membership has been suspended due to sanctions placed on Russia. The current member airlines are,
Press release
Courtesy of Virgin Atlantic:
Heads up. There’s an exciting change coming. Virgin Atlantic will soon be joining SkyTeam, an alliance of airlines working together to provide a more seamless travel experience, at every step of the journey.
This powerful partnership opens up a huge global network beyond our own, flying to 170 countries across six continents, with more than 10,000 daily departures to over 1,000 destinations. Which is great news for us, and even better news for you. It’s also a mutually rewarding loyalty programme, with opportunities for people who are part of our Flying Club to earn and redeem points across all the SkyTeam airlines, and with extra benefits like priority boarding, extra baggage allowance, lounge access and more.
Virgin Atlantic CEO Shai Weiss added that SkyTeam shares the “customer first” mentality of his airline. He concluded that this step makes sense as it enables the carrier to enhance existing collaborations in place and increase network opportunities while making the most of loyalty benefits.
Bottom line
Virgin Atlantic has always been at a disadvantage to British Airways’ membership of One World. With them joining SkyTeam, it should help level the playing field and increase the points earning and redemption abilities of Flying Club members.
Full details here.
