Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 2013-10-24 — /travelprnews.com/ — Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has expanded its codeshare agreement with Korean Air, South Korea’s largest airline, to include six new destinations.
In the second phase of cooperation, Etihad Airways will place its EY code on Korean Air services from Seoul Incheon to Honolulu, Vancouver and Hong Kong. Korean Air will place its KE code on Etihad Airways’ flights from Abu Dhabi to Johannesburg, Muscat and, subject to government approval, Khartoum.
The new arrangements augment the airlines’ existing codeshare services between Abu Dhabi and Seoul Incheon.
Etihad Airways’ President and Chief Executive Officer James Hogan said the expanded codeshare with Korean Air would enable both airlines to grow their networks in a mutually beneficial way and broaden their appeal to world travellers.
“The three new codeshare destinations enhance Etihad Airways’ business and leisure travel offering to the Asia Pacific and North America. The flights to Honolulu and Vancouver, in particular, will provide convenient one-stop access from Abu Dhabi to these two popular North American destinations.
“This is a natural development of the codeshare agreement with Korean Air which we signed in July this year, and we look forward to broadening the scope of cooperation even further in the future.”
Mr Hogan noted that Etihad Airways’ strategy of partnerships with airlines such as Korean Air was helping grow tourism from around the world to its Abu Dhabi home and hub.
“The introduction of new codeshare routes enables us to rapidly expand our network and drive more leisure and business traffic to and through our Abu Dhabi hub. Last year alone, Etihad Airways carried 10.2 million passengers through Abu Dhabi.
“Increasing international visitors to Abu Dhabi is key to enabling economic growth in the Emirate and helping realise the Government’s visionary Abu Dhabi 2030 plan.
“We forecast this trend will continue with the opening of new routes from Asia and North America.”
Etihad Airways and Korean Air have had a successful commercial partnership since August 2009 when the airlines signed a special pro rata agreement and interline partnership. The airlines commenced codeshare operations between Abu Dhabi and Seoul Incheon on July 22, 2013.
Members of Etihad Airways’ Etihad Guest and Korean Air’s SKYPASS loyalty programs enjoy reciprocal benefits. These include lounge access, priority check-in and excess baggage allowances for top tier program members and the ability to earn and burn frequent flyer points on Etihad Airways and Korean Air flights.
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About Etihad Airways
Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, began operations in 2003, and in 2012 carried 10.3 million passengers. From its hub at Abu Dhabi International Airport, Etihad Airways offers flights to 94 passenger and cargo destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and the Americas, with a fleet of over 80 Airbus and Boeing aircraft, and large orders for additional aircraft including 41 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners and 10 Airbus A380s, the world’s largest passenger aircraft. Etihad Airways also holds equity investments in airberlin, Air Seychelles, Virgin Australia and Aer Lingus, and subject to regulatory approval will acquire a 24 per cent stake in India’s Jet Airways. Etihad Airways also will acquire 49 per cent of Air Serbia from January 2014. For more information about Etihad Airways, visit: www.etihad.com
About Korean Air
Korean Air, with a fleet of 155 aircraft, is one of the world’s top 20 airlines, and operates more than 400 flights per day to 126 cities in 45 countries. It is a founding member of the SkyTeam alliance, which together with its 19 members, offers its 552 million annual passengers a worldwide system of more than 15,000 daily flights covering 993 destinations in 187 countries. In 2012, Business Traveler named Korean Air the best Asian airline for the sixth consecutive year while the China Travel Media Alliance named Korean Air “the Best Airline of the Year.” Korean Air became the first airline to receive the Excellence in Service award at the World Travel Awards. In 2011, Global Traveler awarded the airline with best airline in northern Asia and best airport staff/gate agents. The carrier has repeatedly won the Global Travel Catering Distinction award by Pax International magazine while World Traveler magazine rated it as having the world’s best inflight service. Travel & Leisure magazine readers have consistently named it as one of the world’s top 10 international carriers and readers of Conde Nast Traveler magazine have voted Korean Air one of the world’s top 10 global airlines. More on Korean Air’s programs, routes, frequencies and partners is available at www.koreanair.com
For more information contact:
Stephen Mahoney, Etihad Airways Corporate Communications
Mobile: +61 488 125 538
Email: smahoney@etihad.ae
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