Etihad, Royal Jordanian ink new codeshare deal
abu dhabi — Etihad Airways and Royal Jordanian have announced a new codeshare partnership which will provide their customers with greater access to key leisure and business destinations in North Africa, Europe, Canada, Asia and Australia.
The codeshare flights opened for sale on Thursday, with the first travel date on February 15. This is the first such partnership between the two airlines, who offer multiple daily services between their respective hubs in Abu Dhabi and Amman. The partnership will see Etihad Airways place its EY code on Royal Jordanian’s flights from Abu Dhabi via Amman’s Queen Alia International Airport to Larnaca and Berlin, while Algiers, Tunis, Vienna and Montreal will be added to the agreement soon.
In turn, Royal Jordanian will initially place its RJ code on Etihad Airways services from Amman to Abu Dhabi and vice-versa, and then from the UAE capital to Brisbane and Seoul. Subject to government approval, Royal Jordanian will also market Etihad flights from Abu Dhabi to Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calicut, Cochin, Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Trivandrum, Manila, Beijing and Shanghai.
Tony Douglas, group chief executive officer at Etihad Aviation Group, said: “This partnership reinforces the deep cultural, tourism and trade connections between the UAE and Jordan, and opens up a new world of opportunities for our customers: Royal Jordanian, as one of the oldest and most experienced airlines in the region, and Etihad as one of the youngest and most acclaimed... this is the first phase of what we hope is a long-lasting and expanding partnership.”
Stefan Pichler, Royal Jordanian’s president and CEO, said: “This move is bound to expand our presence in Asia and Australia, which are key destinations for many Royal Jordanian customers. This commercial partnership offers convenient transiting in Amman and Abu Dhabi to their final points, while experiencing a streamlined level of services to the destinations covered by the agreement onboard two modern fleets of aircraft.”