Etihad, Fiji Airways deal

Fiji Airways and Etihad Airways today announced a new and far reaching interline agreement between the two carriers.

This agreement will allow reciprocal sales from and to 12 cities in Europe, 17 cities in the Middle East, 5 cities in Africa, 5 cities in North America, 29 cities in Asia and 3 cities in Australia to and from Fiji. The agreement comes into place with immediate effect and is the starting point of further negotiations between the 2 airlines.

James Hogan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Etihad Airways, said: “Fiji is a great holiday market and we are happy to offer Fiji as an additional destination in our global network. The agreement also connects the outer South Pacific Islands to our network which creates more opportunities for our worldwide sales force. “ Stefan Pichler, Managing Director and CEO of Fiji Airways, said: “We are proud to be part of the global Etihad Airways network and this partnership will help us to put Fiji on the map in countries where we had no presence before. Etihad Airways will help us to reach out for new customers and to diversify tourism streams for our country. It is definitely a major step for Fiji Airways.”

The Fijian Attorney-General and Minister for Tourism, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, has hailed the agreement as an exciting new development for Fiji Airways and the entire Fijian economy. “This opens up a whole new lucrative market for our tourism industry, enabling us to attract affluent visitors from Abu Dhabi - Etihad's base - the other Gulf States, the rest of the Middle East and beyond," he said.

The Minister added that the Fijian Government hopes that this agreement will strengthen both Fiji's national airline and the national economy for the long-term benefit of every Fijian.

Etihad Airways joins Fiji Airways' impressive list of codeshare or interline partners, which includes American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qantas and Air New Zealand.

Increasing flights to Mediterranean destinations Etihad today announced it will boost frequency and capacity to Athens and Larnaca.

Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways Chief Commercial Officer, said: “These increases in frequency and capacity demonstrate our commitment to build a global, connected network.

“In the case of Athens, our new flights will offer guests the choice of two different departure times to and from Abu Dhabi, and in the case of Larnaca, the additional flights will provide more choice and flexibility, as well as better connectivity over Abu Dhabi.

“The additional services will also support the growth of business and leisure traffic over Abu Dhabi, and offer travellers greater choice of destinations across the Gulf region, Indian Sub-continent, Asia and Australia.

“It also means that by July 2014, nearly 90 per cent of Etihad Airways’ global passenger network will be served by a daily flight.”

Athens - From 2 July 2014, Etihad Airways will increase frequency on the Abu Dhabi-Athens route from seven to 10 flights per week with the introduction of three new flights, which will provide passengers travelling to and from Athens with more choice and greater flexibility.

The new flights will also provide additional connecting opportunities with codeshare partner Aegean Airlines, which has separately announced that it will be commencing a direct service between Athens and Abu Dhabi from 28 May 2014.

Beyond Athens, Etihad Airways places its EY flight code on Aegean-operated flights to 16 destinations in Greece including popular islands such as Crete, Rhodes and Santorini, and to Larnaca, Madrid and Sofia in Europe.  Aegean Airlines places its A3 flight code on Etihad Airways beyond Abu Dhabi to Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Bahrain, Kuwait and Johannesburg.  The new flights will enable Etihad Airways to place its flight code on Aegean-operated flights beyond Athens to Barcelona, subject to regulatory approval.

In addition, between 1 June and 30 September, Etihad Airways’ daily EY090/EY091 flights will be upgraded from the current 174-seat Airbus A321 operation to a 254-seat Airbus A330-200 aircraft.

Flying 18 guests in the award-winning Pearl Business Class and 236 guests in Coral Economy Class, the larger aircraft is being deployed on the route to meet the expected increase in summer traffic.

Larnaca - Etihad Airways will increase its base frequency on the Abu Dhabi-Larnaca route from three to five flights per week. Etihad Airways will also operate Larnaca as a daily service during the peak summer period from 1 July to 30 September 2014.

All services to and from Larnaca will be operated by a two-class Airbus A320 aircraft configured to carry 16 guests in Pearl Business Class and 120 in Coral Economy Class.
 

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.