Etihad Airways and airberlin start selling codeshare flights

Etihad Airways and airberlin said today they have started selling tickets for their joint codeshare flights. The announcement follows last month’s move by the Abu Dhabi-based carrier whereby it raised its stake in airberlin to 29.21 per cent, becoming the loss-making German carrier’s largest single shareholder. As a part of the codeshare arrangement, airberlin will operate four flights a week between Berlin and Abu Dhabi starting January 15, 2012 using an Airbus A330-200 aircraft, Etihad said in a statement, adding that additional codeshare destinations will be announced in the coming weeks, “subject to government approvals”. As a part of the strategic partnership, Etihad Airways said it will place its EY code on these flights, providing European travellers with “immediate access to a total of 29 flights a week” to and through Abu Dhabi from four German hubs (Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich), with a plan to “increase to 42 flights from mid-April”. Airberlin, meanwhile, will place its AB code on Etihad Airways flights from Düsseldorf, Frankfurt and Munich to Abu Dhabi and on Etihad Airways’ flights from Abu Dhabi to Bangkok, Malé and Singapore, according to the statement. Etihad Airways will in turn codeshare on airberlin flights to Basel, Berlin, Catania, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Hannover, Helsinki, Milan, Rome, Stuttgart, Venice and Zurich.