V Australia to share AirNZ Koru Lounges in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane

By David Flynn, January 31 2011
V Australia to share AirNZ Koru Lounges in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane

V Australia's premium passengers in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane will gain access to Air New Zealand's Koru Lounges this month.

Business class travellers and those holding Velocity Gold status under the V Australia and Virgin Blue frequent flyer program will be ushered through the doors and can also swipe one guest into the Koru Lounge.

Premium economy passengers will have to find their own place to sit, however - despite enjoying access to Virgin Blue's domestic lounges if they are on a Virgin Blue connecting flight.

And waving your paid-for pass into Virgin Blue’s The Lounge won't count for anything either. This deal is strictly for V Australia's top-tier travellers and passengers holding a ticket for the pointy end of the plane.

It's a definite win for V Australia passengers heading out from Brisbane as they've previously had no lounge access at Brisbane International Airport.

Brisbane airport's Koru lounge is already open to V Australia passengers. V Australia will begin using the Air New Zealand Koru Lounge in Sydney International Airport from Monday February 7th, with Melbourne's Koru Lounge from Monday February 28th, replacing the current sharing arrangement with Malaysian Airlines' Golden Lounges.

This appears to be first fruits of the closer relationship between Virgin Blue (which owns V Australia) and Air New Zealand since the Kiwi carrier took a 14.9% stake in Virgin Blue earlier this month.

David

David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.


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