Virgin Atlantic has announced that it will be joining the SkyTeam alliance in 2023.
It will join Delta Air Lines and KLM, already close partners of Virgin Atlantic, along with Air France, Air Europa, Kenya Airways, Korean Air, China Airlines, China Eastern, Garuda Indonesia, AeroMexico and others.
The addition of Virgin means there will be 19 airlines in the alliance covering more than 170 countries.
Virgin said its Flying Club members will enjoy benefits across every airline in the SkyTeam Alliance.
Silver members will become SkyTeam Elite and Gold members will be recognised as Sky Team Elite Plus.
Depending on their tier status, customers will be able to access priority boarding, extra baggage allowance, lounge access and more.
Shai Weiss, CEO Virgin Atlantic, said: “Our membership will allow us to enhance established relationships with our valued partners at Delta and Air France-KLM, as well as opening up opportunities to collaborate with new airlines. It will enable a seamless customer experience, with an expanded network and maximised loyalty benefits.”
Weiss said the airline was keen to ensure its airport lounge experience would not be impacted by additional passengers from partner airlines, saying it was “something we need to think about”.
He said he would like to see the Clubhouse at Heathrow expanded “at the right time”.
