Virgin Australia’s inaugural flight to Hong Kong took off from Melbourne this morning!

The new service, which was announced back in March, departed Melbourne at 9:40am and will arrive at 5:20pm this evening.

The flight marks the start of Virgin’s services to Greater China with the airline also confirming a codeshare agreement with Hong Kong Airlines. The codeshare gives Virgin Australia passengers the ability to book onward flights to mainland China, with Velocity Frequent Flyer members able to earn point and status credits on eligible flights operated by Hong Kong Airlines.

Virgin Australia business class passengers flying to Hong Kong will have access to the Etihad lounge in Melbourne Airport and Hong Kong Airline’s Bauhinia lounge in Terminal 1 of Hong Kong Airport.

Going forward Virgin Australia will operate 5 flights a week to Hong Kong, utilising an Airbus A330 which will depart Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday.