A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by Emirates Airlines and Etihad Airways to broaden their interline agreement and give tourists more itinerary choices when visiting the United Arab Emirates.
This groundbreaking arrangement between the two UAE carriers intends to take advantage of chances to increase tourism to the UAE from important source markets by allowing travellers to enjoy many locations on a single itinerary.
Customers of each airline will have the option to buy a single ticket this summer for flights into either Dubai or Abu Dhabi, with a seamless return through the other airport. The new partnership also offers tourists who want to explore the UAE the convenience of one-stop ticketing for their entire journey and convenient baggage check-in.
Each carrier will concentrate on building incoming interline traffic from specific points in Europe and China in the early stages of the enlarged interline in order to draw tourists to the UAE. The ‘open jaw’ configuration will enable travellers to see as much of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, or any other emirate as possible while saving time by avoiding the need to fly home via their arrival airport. Customers flying into the UAE also have the alternative of “multi-city flights,” which allow them to simply depart from one city on the networks of both carriers before returning to a different location offered by either Emirates or Etihad.
In the presence of Sir Tim Clark, President of Emirates Airline, Antonoaldo Neves, CEO of Etihad Airways, and other senior executives, Adnan Kazim, Chief Commercial Officer of Emirates, and Mohammad Al Bulooki, Chief Operating Officer of Etihad Airways, signed the Memorandum of Understanding at Arabian Travel Market.
Antonoaldo Neves, Chief Executive Officer, Etihad Airways, said: “We’re delighted to partner with Emirates in our shared mission to support inbound tourism to the UAE and facilitate travel to our vibrant cities. With two world-class airlines supporting UAE tourism, our interline agreement will make it more convenient for our guests to experience the best of Abu Dhabi and Dubai on one single ticket while promising to deliver an exceptional flying experience whether they fly with Etihad Airways or Emirates. It’s a win-win proposition for travellers to the UAE.”
The expanded interline partnership is based on both airlines’ dedication to helping the UAE government achieve its goals of promoting tourism to the country and strengthening its position as a top travel destination worldwide. One of the main drivers of the UAE economy, tourism is anticipated to sustain over 1 million employment by 2027 and account for 5.4 per cent of the country’s overall GDP, or AED 116.1 billion (USD 31.6 billion).
The airlines have declared a partnership twice already. In order to improve aviation security, including the sharing of information and intelligence in operational areas both inside and beyond the United Arab Emirates, Emirates Group Security and Etihad Aviation Group (EAG) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2018. In order to increase the number of tourists visiting the capital of the UAE, Abu Dhabi, Emirates and the Department of Culture and Tourism inked an MoU last year.
