Etihad Airways and Lufthansa finalized a codeshare agreement, set to start in January 2017, and subject to government approval. The agreement signals a strategic cooperation between two former, and often bitter rivals along a vital passenger and cargo route.
\nEtihad attributed its record-breaking cargo volumes in October to \u201cvolumes from Europe to Asia Pacific,\u201d and the Lufthansa deal gives the UAE-based carrier a competitive edge against other regional carriers that are attempting to route Europe-Asia cargo through their Middle East hubs.
\nThe German carrier will begin putting its \u2018LH\u2019 code on Etihad Airways\u2019 twice-daily flights between Abu Dhabi and Frankfurt and its twice-daily services between Abu Dhabi and Munich. Etihad will, in turn, put its \u2018EY\u2019 code on Lufthansa\u2019s services between Frankfurt and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as well as Bogot\u00e1, Colombia.
\nLufthansa also agreed to lease 38 aircraft from airberlin, in which Etihad holds a 29 percent stake. The aircraft will fly for Lufthansa\u2019s Eurowings Group and its network carrier Austrian Airlines. While the two deals are unrelated, they were announced on the same day.
\nThe leasing agreement has a term of six years and becomes effective February 2017.
\nNews of the deal is raising speculation that the frosty relationship between European and Gulf carriers might be thawing. One former critic, Carsten Spohr, CEO of Lufthansa Group, said the deal and wet-lease contract were part of an important alliance between the two carriers. \u201cWe are looking forward to partnering with the Etihad Aviation Group. The wet-lease contract with Air Berlin fosters the growth of our Eurowings Group,\u201d he said. \u201cWe will consider extending our cooperation in other areas,\u201d he added.
\nSource: aircargoworld<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"