Orbitz Worldwide Launches Private Label Partnership With Virgin Australia

CHICAGO, July 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Orbitz Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: OWW) today announced a new partnership with Virgin Australia to power standalone hotel bookings on its Australian websites (www.vaustralia.com.au and www.virginaustralia.com).  Effective immediately, the new distribution partnership leverages the Orbitz Worldwide private label platform and comprehensive supplier relationships delivered by HotelClub – the primary Orbitz Worldwide consumer brand in Asia Pacific – to allow Virgin Australia customers to search and book more than 71,000 hotel properties across the globe.  

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"The Orbitz Worldwide and HotelClub partnership gives our corporate and leisure customers the ability to search and book thousands of hotels on our website as they book their flights, including more than 4,200 hotel properties in Australia and New Zealand alone," said Liz Savage, Virgin Australia's Group Executive, Commercial.  "We chose HotelClub for its flexibility, ease of use and for the competitive prices it offers. Virgin Australia is committed to providing our customers with quality services and great value and we believe that HotelClub will help us achieve that.  The HotelClub offering went live last month and initial customer response to the new range of properties available has been extremely positive."

"Virgin Australia has quickly become of the most recognizable premium airlines in Australia and across Asia Pacific, and we are thrilled the Orbitz Worldwide private label solution will power their standalone hotel bookings," said Jeremy Bellinghausen, president, HotelClub.  "We believe our solution is unique in its ability to combine a flexible technology platform with extensive supplier inventory delivered by a great consumer brand like HotelClub.  This is a terrific win for our mutual customers, Virgin Australia, and the thousands of HotelClub hotel partners that will benefit from greater visibility with in-market travelers."

Orbitz Worldwide Distribution offers a range of private label solutions for partners of all sizes, including hosted HTML services that can be launched in a matter of days with no upfront costs, XML solutions that allow full control of the user interface, and end-to-end custom developed XML and HTML solutions that are fully tailored to meet the unique requirements of more complex partners.  For more information visit the Orbitz Worldwide Distribution website or send an email to [email protected].

About Virgin Australia

Virgin Australia group of airlines (ASX: VBA), formerly the Virgin Blue group of airlines, was launched in 2000 as the first sustainable low-fare airline in Australian skies. It has established a global reputation as an innovator and leader in the aviation industry; renowned for the warmth of its people and the quality of the service they provide.

Starting out as a single airline operating a single route with just 200 team members, today the group employs over 7,000 people and includes multi-award winning domestic airline Virgin Australia (formerly Virgin Blue); international long-haul airline V Australia; international subsidiary airline Pacific Blue; and Polynesian Blue, a joint venture airline with the Government of Samoa. Virgin Australia is currently in the process of re-launching its domestic and short-haul international product, and both V Australia and Pacific Blue airlines will operate as Virgin Australia by the end of 2011.  Virgin Australia operates a fleet of 89 modern Boeing 737, 777 and Embraer E-Jet aircraft flying to 32 Australian and 16 international destinations including the USA, UAE, New Zealand, Indonesia, Thailand, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu and the Cook Islands.

About Orbitz Worldwide

Orbitz Worldwide is a leading global online travel company that uses innovative technology to enable leisure and business travelers to research, plan and book a broad range of travel products.  Orbitz Worldwide owns a portfolio of consumer brands that includes Orbitz, CheapTickets, ebookers, HotelClub, RatesToGo and the Away Network.  Also within the Orbitz Worldwide family, Orbitz Worldwide Distribution delivers private label travel solutions to a broad range of partners including many of the world's largest airlines, and Orbitz for Business delivers managed corporate travel solutions for corporations.  Orbitz Worldwide uses its Investor Relations website to make information available to its investors and the public at http://investors.orbitz.com.  You can sign up to receive email alerts whenever the company posts new information to the website.

SOURCE Orbitz Worldwide, Inc.