Etihad, Egypt Air expand codeshare pact covering Australia to Africa

Codeshare comes into effect on May 2, giving Etihad further access into Africa and Egypt Air more connectivity into S Korea and Australia

Etihad Air and Egypt Air expand codeshare agreement to cover more destinations in Africa to Australia. Delores Johnson / The National

Etihad Airways and Egypt Air have expanded a codeshare agreement to include more cities from Australia to Africa, building on an existing pact signed a year ago.

Abu Dhabi-based Etihad will place its flight codes on Egypt Air services to African destinations including Ndjamena in Chad, Nairobi in Kenya, Khartoum in Sudan, Entebbe in Uganda and Johannesburg in South Africa, it said in an emailed statement on Monday.

Star Alliance member Egypt Air will put its flight codes on Etihad routes to Seoul, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, and pending government approvals, China.

__________________

Read more:

__________________

"The forging of closer codeshare ties between our two airlines means unprecedented access to many new gateways for Etihad’s customers while bolstering our services to markets we already serve, such as Kenya and Tanzania, by connecting easily through Cairo onto Egypt Air’s African network," Peter Baumgartner, chief executive of Etihad Airways, said.

The airlines signed the initial phase of the agreement in March 2017 for codeshares on flights between Abu Dhabi and Cairo. The expanded agreement will begin on May 2.

Separately, Mr Baumgartner said in a TV interview with CNBC on Monday that the airline, which is in the midst of a strategy review, is looking at the future "to make sure we keep having a solid baseline for future growth."