Etihad announced that it will place its own flight code on Air Arabia Abu Dhabi’s two inaugural routes.

Starting July 9, 2020, Etihad Airways will place its EY code on Air Arabia Abu Dhabi tickets to Alexandria Borg El Arab Airport (HBE) and Sohag International Airport (HMB) in Egypt. The codesharing agreement will last until October 24, 2020.

Etihad stated that the airline plans to add more of its own flight codes on more of the low-cost carrier’s flights, as soon as the LCC expands its own flight schedule. Currently, Air Arabia Abu Dhabi has indicated its plans to fly to the two aforementioned Egyptian airports, with two Airbus A320 aircraft based at Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH). Its inaugural flight is set to take off on July 14, 2020.

The codeshare partnership should not come as a surprise, as Air Arabia Abu Dhabi is a joint venture between Etihad and Air Arabia, a low-cost carrier based in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

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Air Arabia Abu Dhabi was launched in October 2019. While the launch was delayed by around a month, the parent company Air Arabia made headlines during the Dubai Airshow in November 2019, when it inked a deal with Airbus for 120 Airbus A320neo family aircraft, including the A321XLR.

The United Arab Emirates will see its low-cost carrier presence increase, as Wizz Air also launched its own Abu Dhabi-based subsidiary, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi. Furthermore, Emirates has hinted at increased cooperation with flydubai, a Dubai-based low-cost carrier, as a result of the current COVID-19 pandemic and free-falling demand for air travel.

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As both Wizz Air and Air Arabia and Etihad announced their low-cost adventures in Abu Dhabi, one question arises: why Abu Dhabi out of all the places?