Etihad, Saudia expand codeshare deal

Oct 23, 2019: The national carriers of the United Arab Emirates and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Etihad Airways and Saudia respectively, have expanded their codeshare deal, as the airlines celebrate the first anniversary of their commercial partnership.

Following positive growth in passenger traffic across the partnership, the carriers have announced 12 new codeshare routes to key destinations in Asia and Europe.

Under the deal announced yesterday, Saudia will progressively add its code to Etihad flights between Abu Dhabi and 11 more destinations in nine countries Amsterdam, Baku, Brussels, Dublin, Hong Kong, Kathmandu, Bangkok, Phuket, Nagoya, Tokyo and Seoul, significantly extending Saudia’s reach.

Since signing their agreement in October 2018, the two airlines have placed their flight codes on each other’s services between Abu Dhabi and the Saudi Arabian cities of Dammam, Jeddah, Riyadh and Medina.

Saudia has also added its ‘SV’ code to Etihad flights between Abu Dhabi and 12 more destinations – Ahmedabad, Belgrade, Brisbane, Chengdu, Chicago, Dusseldorf, Lagos, Melbourne, Moscow-Domodedovo, Rabat, Seychelles and Sydney – while Etihad has placed its ‘EY’ code on Saudia flights to Peshawar, Multan, Port Sudan and Vienna.

Tony Douglas, Group chief executive officer of Etihad Aviation Group said: “Since announcing our partnership at this time last year, we have jointly achieved more than 53,500 passenger journeys, five times the 11,390 for the whole of 2018.”

The new deal is subject to regulatory approvals.

Etihad Airways serves almost 80 destinations, including four in Saudi Arabia, while Saudia operates flights across four continents with a modern mixed fleet of narrow and widebody aircraft.