Etihad Airways will boost its connectivity to major Italian cities next year, after it signed a codeshare agreement with Alitalia, the financially ailing Italian carrier in which it owns a 49 per cent stake.
Starting from March, Alitalia will offer daily services from Milan and Venice to Abu Dhabi, with Etihad codesharing on these flights. A codeshare agreement between airlines allows them to publish and market a flight under their own brand. Etihad already has a daily service between Abu Dhabi and Milan.
Pending government approval, the next stage of the codeshare agreement will allow Etihad passengers to access 15 of Alitalia’s domestic routes from Rome’s Fiumicino Airport.
“By codesharing on Alitalia’s new Venice service, we will offer access to one of Italy’s most popular tourist destinations for the first time,” said James Hogan, the president and chief executive of Etihad Airways.
“[The] strong demand is expected not only from the GCC region, including the UAE, but also Asian markets such as China, Japan and Korea.”
Will Horton, a senior analyst at Sydney-based Centre for Aviation (Capa), said that the existing flights between Abu Dhabi and Italy are already excessive. However, the focus is on building connections to new markets.
“A quick build-up in capacity from the combined Alitalia-Etihad, along with other Gulf carriers’ growth, will create yield pressure,” said Mr Horton. “It will take time for this capacity to be absorbed but there is a long-term opportunity to grow the Italian market.”
Last week, the European Commission gave its go-ahead to Etihad to acquire its stake in Alitalia. The commission’s approval came after Etihad finalised its acquisition in Alitalia, of which it has committed to pay €387.5 million (Dh1.78 billion) for the 49 per cent share, €60m for five slots at London’s Heathrow Airport and €112.5m for 75 per cent of Alitalia’s MilleMiglia loyalty programme.
Gaining access to European cities is becoming more of a challenge for UAE carriers. This month, Saif Al Suwaidi, the director general of the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority, said that he wished there were greater access to cities in Germany, France and Italy.
selgazzar@thenational.ae
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