Etihad Airways and EL AL Israel Airlines launched a joint codeshare network agreement on July 1, 2021. Israel’s national airline will add its code to the already existing regular Etihad’s service connecting Abu Dhabi, the UAE, and Tel Aviv, Israel, from July 18, 2021.
Both airlines plan to expand their partnership in the future. For instance, Etihad Airways will seek to add its code on additional 14 EL AL destinations, including routes across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the United States.
According to Tony Douglas, the CEO of Etihad Group Aviation, in the next phase of extending the codeshare agreement, Etihad Airways “will provide additional choice and connectivity for both carriers’ guests”. However, before adding the “EY” code on its partner’s flights, Etihad has to receive all necessary governmental approvals.
Meanwhile, EL AL Israel Airlines is focused on placing its code on Etihad’s services to Australia, Bahrain, India, Korea, the Philippines, and Seychelles starting on August 1, 2021.
The two air carriers initiated their partnership in November 2020, after signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). At the time, the parties agreed to explore opportunities for deeper cooperation. The wide-ranging MoU included plans of joint codeshare launch for services between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv. It also covered parties’ expectations for greater commercial cooperation in the fields of cargo and MRO in order to increase freighter traffic volumes across networks of both air carriers as well as optimization of aircraft maintenance repair and overhaul in the future.
