Tue, Dec 20, 2011
UAE National Carrier To Provide Five-Year Financing Facilities
Of Up To $255 Million
Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab
Emirates, has agreed to increase its stake in airberlin,
Europe’s sixth largest airline, to 29.21 per cent, becoming
airberlin’s largest single shareholder. The strategic move,
announced Monday in Berlin by Etihad Airways Chief Executive
Officer James Hogan and airberlin CEO Hartmut Mehdorn, connects the
airlines’ extensive networks and frequent flyer programs to
offer travellers 239 destinations across 77 countries.
"The strategic partnership with Etihad Airways opens up enormous
opportunities for the future of our company,” Mehdorn said.
“This applies especially to future market development and the
realization of synergies. One of the key components of the new
partnership is the launch of airberlin services to Abu Dhabi, which
will become our new gateway to Asia and Australia. The agreement
with Etihad Airways will also dramatically improve the global
connectivity of our customers in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and
throughout the GCC and Middle East.”
James Hogan said the deal was one of the most important in
Etihad Airways’ history. “This new partnership expands
our network reach, gives us access to 33 million new passengers,
and provides us with a real opportunity for global growth. Through
airberlin, we gain immediate access to a broad and complementary
European market, with outstanding connectivity options for
customers of both airlines. Our partnership strategy has been
integral to our success over the past eight years, and the returns
we have seen from this strategy have confirmed its value. We now
have a portfolio of 34 quality airline partners, but this is our
first equity investment in another airline. It is a sign of our
confidence in airberlin’s management and in the
carrier’s potential to grow with us.”
Under the partnership:
- airberlin will shift its Middle East operation from Dubai to
Abu Dhabi.
- airberlin will operate four A330-200 flights a week between
Berlin and Abu Dhabi from January 15, 2012 - with European
travellers having immediate access to a total of 29 flights a week
to and through Abu Dhabi from four German hubs, with a plan to
increase to 42 flights from mid-April.
- The airlines will implement an extensive codeshare agreement,
with Etihad Airways codesharing on 36 of airberlin’s 171
destinations and airberlin codesharing on 24 of Etihad
Airways’ 82 passenger destinations, and plan further
expansion of the pool of codeshare routes.
- Etihad Airways will sign codeshare agreements with the
airberlin group for all European activities including NIKI, the
Austrian airline, and Belair, the Swiss airline.
- Etihad Guest and topbonus, the airlines’ frequent flyer
programs, will be integrated, enabling passengers of both airlines
to ‘earn and burn’ on each other’s flights and
offering reciprocal benefits - including status earning - to top
tier members.
Under the agreement, Etihad Airways will have two seats on the
Board of Directors of the Air Berlin PLC.
The two companies will seek anti-trust immunity, which would allow
greater coordination of route networks and of sales and marketing
activities. airberlin and Etihad Airways are committed to creating
a joint procurement taskforce to look for cost efficiencies across
the two companies, including areas such as fleet procurement and
deployment, maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) and general
procurement.
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