Etihad Airways Signs Commercial Partnership Agreement with Kenya Airways

Etihad Airways has signed a strategic commercial partnership agreement with Kenya Airways, the national flag carrier of Kenya.

Etihad Airways will place its EY code on Kenya Airways flights from Nairobi to 27 destinations across Kenya Airways’ network in Africa.

Kenya Airways will place its KQ code on Etihad Airways’ daily service from Nairobi to Abu Dhabi and, subject to government approval, onwards to up to 32 key destinations across Etihad’s global network.

Kenya Airways will also launch a new three times a week service between Nairobi and Abu Dhabi from mid-summer 2013.

The agreement paves the way for greater collaboration between the airlines on the joint procurement of services for ground handling, line and heavy maintenance, training and cargo operations.

The new codeshare with Kenya Airways will complement Etihad’s existing scheduled service between Nairobi to Abu Dhabi which provides passengers with sub-four hour connections over its hub in the UAE to destinations across North Asia, South East Asia, the Indian Sub continent and Australia.

James Hogan, Etihad Airways President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “Last year we launched new services to Tripoli, Nairobi and Lagos, and over the last five years we have more than doubled our services to Africa, reflecting the increasing importance of the continent. During the same period we have flown nearly three million passengers between Africa and the UAE, and key destinations across our network.”

Kenya Airlines joins a growing list of airlines to have launched new services to Abu Dhabi International Airport as a direct result of Etihad Airways’ partnership strategy. These airlines include: airberlin Air Seychelles, Alitalia, CSA Czech Airlines, Garuda, Hainan Airlines, RAK Airways and Virgin Australia.

The codeshare agreement with Kenyan Airways brings to 42 the number of Etihad Airways codeshare partners, creating a combined passenger network of 349 destinations.

Etihad Airways’ daily service from Nairobi to Abu Dhabi is operated by a two class A320 aircraft with 16 Pearl Business class and 120 Coral Economy seats.