Abu Dhabi, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, and Egyptian national airline EGYPTAIR, have announced a significant expansion of their successful codeshare partnership, widening their horizons to cover more destinations in Africa, North Asia and Australia for the benefit and convenience of their customers. Sales on the expanded agreement will come into effect from today, for travel from 2 May.
The initial
phase of the agreement was launched in March 2017 and saw both Etihad Airways
and EGYPTAIR place their codes on each other’s flights operating between Abu
Dhabi and Cairo. The second phase of expansion of the current codeshare partnership
will see Etihad Airways place its ‘EY’ code on EGYPTAIR flights to a number of
African destinations including Ndjamena in Chad, Nairobi
in Kenya, Khartoum in Sudan, Entebbe in Uganda, Johannesburg in South Africa,
and subject to government approvals, on flights to Nigeria, Eritrea and
Tanzania, through the Star Alliance carrier’s Cairo hub.
Peter
Baumgartner, Etihad Airways Chief Executive Officer, said: “EGYPTAIR is one of
the oldest and most experienced airlines in the region with a major presence in
cities across the African continent. The forging of closer codeshare ties
between our two airlines means unprecedented access to many new gateways for
Etihad’s customers while bolstering our services to markets we already serve,
such as Kenya and Tanzania, by connecting easily through Cairo onto EGYPTAIR’s
African network.”
The
expanded partnership will also see EGYPTAIR place its ‘MS’ code on Etihad
Airways flights from Abu Dhabi to Seoul, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, and
subject to government approvals, on flights to China.
Safwat
Mussalam, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of EGYPTAIR HOLDING, said: “One
of EGYPTAIR’s strategy pillars is successful cooperation with our partners to
enhance and expand our reach beyond our network. The expansion of cooperation
between EGYPTAIR and Etihad Airways will give our customers seamless access to major
cities in Australia and South Korea.”
Etihad
Airways has been serving the Abu Dhabi – Cairo route since 2004, and currently
operates five daily flights between the two capitals. EGYPTAIR operates up to
three daily services on the route.