Etihad Airways said on Wednesday that its new Etihad Airways Partners programme would remove the “complexity and confusion that exists within the global alliances” and invited “like-minded” airlines to join its network.
Five of its equity alliance partners will participate initially – airberlin, Air Serbia, Air Seychelles, India’s Jet Airways and Swiss-based Darwin Airline, also known as Etihad Regional, the Abu Dhabi carrier said. Aer Lingus, Virgin Australia and Alitalia, all in which Etihad owns stakes, will not based on their own “interests and priorities”, Etihad said.
Etihad's participating partners will also "have access to economies of scale and operational synergies such as centres of excellence, shared sales teams in certain destinations, joint procurement of services and supplies, and shared pilot and cabin crew training at the Etihad Airways facilities in Abu Dhabi", it said.
The largest global airline alliances are oneworld, which includes Qatar Airways; SkyTeam, which includes Alitalia; and Star Alliance, which includes Germany’s Lufthansa.
Etihad’s chief executive, James Hogan, said last month that the model of alliances was “fractured” and that equity investments, partnerships and codeshares were better options for growth.
Yesterday, in a statement announcing the new brand and logo, Etihad said: “any airline can become an Etihad Airways Partner even if it is part of an existing alliance, such as airberlin, which is a member of oneworld”.
Mr Hogan said that the carrier was broadening its business model to offer more benefits to partner airlines.
“The potential for network alignment to maximise flight connectivity for passengers, together with a shared passion for superior service, are central to the ethos of the Etihad Airways Partner concept,” he said.
The new partnership differs from an alliance, Etihad said, with no fee for participation and no penalty on exit.
Standardised mileage and tier benefits will be offered across all partners, with no blackout periods or priority services, Etihad said.
On Tuesday, Etihad created a new management position to better benefit from its partner airlines.
Bruno Matheu was named as chief operating officer for equity partners in the Etihad Airways Aviation Group. He previously worked with Air France-KLM for about 20 years.
He will work to balance revenue and costs between the carrier and its equity partners, Etihad said.
Mr Matheu starts in December and will report to Mr Hogan.
The International Air Traffic Association this week said passenger demand for Middle Eastern airlines remained strong in August despite conflict throughout the region.
The passenger load factor was close to 83 per cent, an increase of five percentage points from July and 1 percentage point from August last year.
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