Pakistan

PIA and Etihad Airways sign codeshare agreement

Agreement to enable airlines to offer better connections to customers between the UAE, Pakistan and elsewhere

Web Desk June 30, 2015

PHOTO: AFP

Etihad Airways and Pakistan international Airlines have signed a codeshare agreement which will enable the airlines to offer better connections to their customers between the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan and elsewhere.

The first date for travel using the codeshare flights will be July 27, while flights can be booked from June 30 with travellers having a choice of 70 global destinations.

Kevin Knight, Etihad Airways’ Chief Strategy and Planning Officer, said: “Our unique partner strategy has been highly successful and we are pleased to add Pakistan International Airlines to our growing list of successful code share partners.

“There is a long and proud history of travel between Abu Dhabi and cities across Pakistan, and this new codeshare agreement – between the national airlines of the UAE and Pakistan – will make that experience, as well as travel onwards to Africa, Europe, and the United States, that much easier.”

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Etihad Airways EY code will be placed on PIA flights between Islamabad, Peshawar, Lahore, Karachi and Abu Dhabi. Similarly, PIA’s PK code will be placed on Etihad flights operating between Abu Dhabi and Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad as well as some global destinations operated by Etihad Airways.

Khurram Mushtaq, Director Marketing of Pakistan International Airlines said that partnering with Etihad Airways is a great opportunity for PIA and its customers and will enable PIA to reach more destinations globally.

PIA and Etihad airways existing frequent flying customers will be able to will still be able to use their frequent flyer awards when using codeshare flights.

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Passengers flying to the US from Abu Dhabi will have all their US preclearance done at the respective facility at the Abu Dhabi airport with all custom and immigration checks completed, thus arriving in the US like other domestic passengers.

Prior codeshare agreements with Chinese, Far Eastern and EU Carriers have added Rs. 1.136 billion in revenue for PIA in 2014. The Etihad Airways agreement attract travellers from Middle East,Africa, EU and South America.

COMMENTS (7)

Adnan Siddiqi | 8 years ago | Reply @Malik Tariq: The problem is not the Pakistani passport but a very compressed connection time between flight from Karachi to Abu Dhabi and onward journeys to Europe, UK and North America, about an hour and half maximum and more often than not such passengers booked to travel beyond Abu Dhabi end up missing their flights. As per experience, Etihad always goes out of it's way to assist such passengers who end up missing their flights by re-booking them on later flights and providing hotel stays in Abu Dhabi. BTW, Etihad is offering the most competitive round trip fare between Karachi and North America at the moment through it's codeshare with American Airlines and it's the most appealing fare that travel agents these days are marketing.

Malik Tariq | 8 years ago | Reply Etihad needs to address to Pakistan Passport holders problems, because in case of delays, it fails to provide transit visa facility and hotel accommodation at Abu Dhabi to Pakistani citizens.