Contra lots of concerns, Delta said yesterday that they’d be bringing Virgin Australia awards back online.

When I wrote about the 80% bonus for purchased Virgin America miles, several readers noted they thought it was no longer possible to book Virgin Australia flights using Delta miles — and that there was speculation (fueled by Delta agents, and reported on Flyertalk) that the Delta-Virgin Australia partnership had ended.

Virgin Australia business class awards are both frequently available and one of the only ways to get non-stop between North America and Australia in a premium cabin on points. They’re one of the best uses of Virgin America points, and they’re one of the best uses of Delta awards.

Both Virgin America and Delta offer one-way award redemption, making it possible to pull together different sets of points to make roundtrips.

I’ve just flown them myself and though their business class seating is 7-across (they’re moving to a more modern 4-across reverse herringbone configuration), I found the seats very comfortable (they are fully flat) and the service (in an Australian way) and food quite good.

Delta confirms for me that their redemptions on Virgin Australia should return on Saturday.

The issue was a flight information filing error that was not allowing the inventory to be pulled upon request as normal.

It will be corrected on Saturday when the updated info will be loaded.