Etihad Airways said a German court decision allowing it to continue most of its disputed codeshare flights with airberlin is “a victory for consumers and competition in Germany”.
The higher administrative court in Luneburg on Thursday reversed an earlier judgment, allowing the Abu Dhabi carrier to continue operating 26 out of the 31 codeshare flights in dispute. The continuation of codesharing on five domestic German routes was rejected by the court. Etihad has 81 codeshares with airberlin in total
“We are pleased with the ruling which confirms 94 per cent of Etihad Airways’ codeshares,” said Etihad president and chief executive James Hogan on Friday. “This ruling is a victory for consumers and competition in Germany.”
Mr Hogan added that Etihad would redouble efforts to provide strong competition to Lufthansa, the dominant German airline.
He also urged German consumers to support airberlin and its 8,000 staff, which he said he had been “seriously damaged by this sustained attack on their business”.
In 2014 the German government said some of the previously approved codeshares were not covered by the UAE-Germany Air Services Agreement.
In November, it approved 29 of the routes until January 15, but received court backing preventing Etihad from operating the codeshares to the end of the Winter Schedule on March 26.
Etihad, which took a 29.2 per cent stake in airberlin in 2011, said in a statement that it will now be able to continue with all of the approved codeshares beyond the Winter Schedule.
Codeshares are beneficial to airlines because they allow more destinations as part of their network, help to reach more customers and therefore help to fill planes and boost revenues.
During the past 12 months, Etihad and its Arabian Gulf peers, Emirates and Qatar Airways, have been under increasing regulatory scrutiny amid allegations from American and European rivals of unfair practices in breach of open-skies agreements. The Gulf carriers deny the allegations.
Pushed by Lufthansa and Air France/ KLM, the European Commission in December raised concerns over the way Arabian Gulf carriers operate in Europe and published a new aviation strategy.
It called for comprehensive agreements between the European Union and GCC states based on common rules and transparency.
In a memo, the European Commission revealed that the UAE had more direct traffic with the EU than China, India and Japan combined. It also said that the total number of seats available on scheduled flights between the EU and the six GCC states had increased to 39 million in 2015 from 12 million in 2005.
Etihad has previously said it took the stake in airberlin “following encouragement from German regional and national government representatives”.
ioxborrow@thenational.ae
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