The new agreement will make it easier for passengers to tailor their trip by combining flights from Jet Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Delta Air Lines in a single booking.

From April 19 Jet Airways guests travelling between India and the US can connect through Heathrow on to nine US destinations operated by Virgin Atlantic; Atlanta, Boston, Newark, Washington (IAD), New York, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco and Seattle.

The expansion builds on the existing agreement between Jet Airways and Virgin Atlantic in place since 2009 – enabling Virgin Atlantic guests to travel on Jet Airways operated services between Mumbai and Heathrow in addition to the airline’s own direct Delhi to London service.

In 2015 this codeshare was extended on to Jet Airways domestic services.

Gaurang Shetty, whole-time director, Jet Airways, said: “Offering greater choice and connectivity to our guests has always been a hallmark of our network strategy.

“The new codeshares build on the success of our ongoing cooperation with Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic over Heathrow and will provide our guests with more connectivity to and within the US.

“Further, our loyalty programme partnership will also enable the frequent flyers of both carriers to accrue and redeem their miles across each other’s entire network.”

Nat Pieper, Delta’s senior vice president Europe, Middle East, Africa & India, added: “Delta’s codeshare with Jet Airways has seen positive growth in passenger numbers since we launched the agreement six months ago, reflecting the strong demand for air links between the US and India.

“The introduction of this new codeshare increases travel options even more and further supports the Delta-Virgin Atlantic relationship.”