MIDDLE East carrier Etihad expects its recently signed partnership with Virgin to lift the number of passengers they bring into Australia via Abu Dhabi to more than 600,000 this year.
Chief executive James Hogan told BusinessDaily the arrangement would appeal to business travellers -- a high-profit market segment dominated by Qantas.
Mr Hogan believes that, between them, Etihad and Virgin's long-haul offshoot V Australia will bring an extra 80,000 to 100,000 passengers to Australia this year.
Etihad flights brought 450,000 passengers to Sydney and Melbourne in 2009-10.
By moving to code-sharing with V Australia, Etihad had to give up its arrangement with Qantas.
Etihad and Qantas were at odds over the Australian national carrier's plans to send Jetstar into the Middle East.
Qantas also chose to stick with its long-term partner British Airways and not expand its arrangement with Etihad on flights beyond its Abu Dhabi base
"With Qantas we were not able to crack the corporate accounts with frequent flyer offers and corporate deals," Mr Hogan told Business
Daily during a visit to Melbourne.
"While our first class and business products are probably the best flying out of Australia, we just couldn't get the deals."
Mr Hogan said that Etihad and Virgin would offer corporate travellers international and domestic deals.
"We'll now be able to enter into corporate agreements which we've been unable to because of our size," Mr Hogan said.
"But with Virgin, going into a corporate account we'll have the mass to penetrate the segment.
"Virgin will give me the corporates, a strong Australian network, and a frequent flyer program where our own travellers will be able to generate and redeem their points."
The new arrangements will give Etihad more than 20 flights a week between Australia and Abu Dhabi.
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