Etihad Airways and KLM expand codeshare network

Etihad Airways and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines announced (21-May-2013) the second phase of their strategic partnership following the commencement of Etihad Airways' daily Abu Dhabi-Amsterdam service on 15-May-2013. The airlines also expanded their codeshare agreement to include KLM services from Amsterdam to Stockholm, Aberdeen, Barcelona, Bergen, Birmingham, Copenhagen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Gothenburg, Helsinki, Leeds/Bradford and Madrid and Etihad services from Abu Dhabi to Amsterdam, Brisbane, Khartoum, Male, Muscat and Seychelles. KLM CEO Peter Hartman said the airlines received 10,000 additional passengers under the codeshare agreement in the first four months of joint operations, according to a report by luchtvaartnieuws.nl. Etihad Airways president and CEO James Hogan said, "The launch of Etihad Airways flights to Amsterdam demonstrates the deepening of our relationship with KLM as we anticipate great demand for the KLM codeshare flights beyond Schiphol Airport. The partnership with KLM follows Etihad Airways strategy of working closely with partners around the world and using their existing networks to feed secondary cities, as well as other areas of benefit to customers like reciprocal lounge access and frequent flyer 'earn and burn'." [more - original PR] [more - original PR - Dutch]