Etihad Airways will end its unilateral codeshare and bilateral frequent-flyer partnership with Virgin Australia from 1 June 2025.

In a statement, Etihad cited a “divergence in the strategic direction of the respective airlines” for the decision to end the partnership.

Once the termination takes effect, passengers no longer will be able to book Virgin Australia-operated flights through Etihad’s booking channels, and members will not earn Guest Miles on those flights.

For Etihad customers with existing bookings that include a Virgin Australia-operated segment, there will be no changes to their itineraries, said the Abu Dhabi-based carrier.

The move comes just weeks after Qatar Airways announced its intent to acquire a 25 per cent stake in Virgin Australia, which is subject to government approval. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is set to make a final decision on the new alliance in March 2025.

As part of that proposed deal, Qatar Airways will become Virgin Australia’s exclusive interline, codeshare and loyalty partner headquartered in the Middle East or Turkey, while Virgin Australia becomes Qatar’s exclusive interline, codeshare and loyalty partner headquartered in Australia.

Etihad also said it will increase flights from Abu Dhabi to Sydney and Melbourne in its summer 2025 schedule.

The airline has also revealed its traffic figures for October, which saw Etihad’s passenger numbers rise by 23 per cent year-on-year to 1.6 million for the month.

Antonoaldo Neves, CEO of Etihad Airways, said this increase showed the airline’s “continuing upwards momentum”, with passenger numbers for the first 10 months of 2024 rising by 34 per cent to 15 million compared with the same period of the previous year.

“Our capacity continues to grow, and it is pleasing to see we maintained our robust passenger load factor of 87 per cent year-to-date, as well as announcing another exciting new route to Al Alamein, Egypt from summer 2025,” added Neves.

“Abu Dhabi’s reputation as a global aviation hub and a major destination for tourists from around the world is being bolstered by our fleet growth year-on-year, which underpins our route expansion. This was further bolstered by the reintroduction of our fifth A380 in October.”