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ABU DHABI / WAM
Etihad Airways and Air France-KLM Group have signed a memorandum of understanding to enhance collaboration opportunities across passenger operations, loyalty programmes, talent development and maintenance.
The signing ceremony took place at the Air France-KLM Group’s headquarters in Paris, in the presence of Arik De, Chief Revenue Officer of Etihad Airways, and Angus Clarke, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of Air France-KLM. Through this partnership, Etihad and Air France-KLM contemplate expanding their codeshare and interline agreements initiated in 2012.
As a first step, more than 40 new routes covering destinations across Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Australia have been made available for booking as of Thursday, for travel as early as the winter 2023 season. The MoU also proposes the ability for frequent flyers of both Flying Blue and Etihad Guest to earn and redeem miles with Air France, KLM, and Etihad. The airlines will also explore terminal co-location, reciprocal lounge access and ground handling, among other initiatives.
Etihad operates daily flights to Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam Schiphol from Abu Dhabi International Airport. Air France will start operating daily flights between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Abu Dhabi International Airport from October 29.
Commenting on the partnership, Arik De said, “This MoU builds on our existing partnership by exploring deeper network enhancements as we offer improved connectivity between Abu Dhabi and Paris and leveraging the extensive AF-KL network to Europe and beyond. It reaffirms Etihad’s intent to bolster Abu Dhabi’s cultural and economic growth as we look forward to welcoming more guests to our home, enjoying better travel benefits and enhanced customer experiences along the way.”
Clarke, in turn, said, “This 11-year collaboration is now expanding even further as we aim to explore opportunities in maintenance and loyalty, in addition to enhancing our route network for the benefit of our customers worldwide.
“The attractiveness of Abu Dhabi as a destination and hub, powered by Etihad’s large footprint spanning South and Southeast Asia and Australia, brings significant richness to this partnership. This moment marks our commitment to providing seamless, premium, customer-centric travel experiences to our global customer base.”