Codeshare partners Alitalia and Etihad Airways have announced an increase in direct Rome-Abu Dhabi services from four flights per week to five, in addition to an expansion of codeshare destinations for customers of each airline.
Effective
June 13, Alitalia will operate the increased frequency Rome-Abu Dhabi return
flights using a new 230-seat Airbus A330 aircraft. The flights will
operate on an enhanced split schedule, ensuring maximum connectivity over each
airline’s hub.
The news
follows the success of last December’s launch of non-stop services between Rome and Abu
Dhabi, driven by healthy load factors, strong feeder
and onward connections traffic, and burgeoning trade and tourism ties.
The
updated schedule is timed to coincide with seamless connections in Abu Dhabi and Rome to and
from cities in Africa, Asia, Australia,
Europe and the Indian subcontinent.
In
preparation for the extra Rome-Abu Dhabi services, Alitalia customers already
have greater onward codeshare connectivity options via Etihad Airways’ Abu Dhabi hub. This
includes flights to Bahrain,
Bangkok, Colombo,
Jakarta, Johannesburg,
Khartoum, Kuala Lumpur,
the Maldives, Melbourne, Muscat, Nairobi, the Seychelles,
Singapore and Sydney.
At the
same time, Etihad Airways has extended its onward codeshare connections over
Alitalia’s Rome Fiumicino hub to now comprise Athens,
Barcelona, Belgrade,
Bucharest, Budapest,
Frankfurt, Geneva, Madrid,
Malaga, Malta,
Milan, Munich, Sofia, Tirana, Venice, Vienna and Zurich.
Kevin
Knight, Chief Strategy and Planning Officer at Etihad Airways, said: “These are yet more positive milestones in our expanding partnership with
Alitalia. The increase in direct services between Abu
Dhabi and Rome,
an expanded list of onward codeshare cities, combined with a familiar lie-flat
seat in business class, underscore how we are delivering value for both
airlines, and most importantly, our combined customers.”
Giancarlo
Schisano, Alitalia Deputy General Director Business, said: “We are very pleased with the strengthening of
the commercial partnership with Etihad Airways and with the traffic results of
Alitalia’s flight between Rome and Abu Dhabi. In over
four months from the beginning of the connection, Alitalia has transported more
than 17,000 passengers on the route.
“The success of the flight is also due to the possibility
afforded to Alitalia passengers to travel beyond Abu Dhabi
to many codeshare destinations across Australia,
South East Asia, the Indian subcontinent, the Gulf States
and South Africa
with Etihad Airways.”
In
addition to the codeshare with Alitalia, Etihad Airways has 43 other codeshare
agreements in place with airlines across the world. Codeshare partnerships,
along with equity acquisitions and organic growth, form the three pillars of
Etihad Airways’ expansion plans.