ETIHAD CODESHARE DEAL SEEN AS ENDORSEMENT OF PRECISION AIR’S QUALITY OPERATIONS
(Posted 20th December 2016)
In a move that extends its reach across East Africa, Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, earlier today announced that it has entered into a codeshare agreement with Precision Air, Tanzania’s leading domestic airline.
Under the new codeshare agreement, Etihad Airways will place its EY code on Precision Air flights between Dar es Salaam and Kilimanjaro, Mwanza, Mtwara, Nairobi, Zanzibar, Pemba and between Nairobi and Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar.
Precision Air will place its PW code on Etihad’s daily services between Dar es Salaam and Abu Dhabi, strengthening ties between East Africa and the United Arab Emirates, in turn expanding the reach of Precision Air all the way to Abu Dhabi.
Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways Chief Executive Officer, said: ‘Precision Air is an innovative and award-winning airline and this new codeshare agreement demonstrates Etihad Airways’ growing ambitions to strengthen its operations across the East African region. This is a further example of our strategy of working with partners to extend our reach, and provide business and leisure travelers with more choice‘.
Ms. Sauda Rajab, the Group Managing Director and CEO at Precision Air Services PLC, said in her response: ‘This is a new dawn for Precision Air and we are delighted to be working with Etihad Airways in this way. We look forward to welcoming Etihad Airways’ passengers on board our flights, and are excited about exploring additional opportunities to expand the relationship in the future. With this new partnership we are making it easier for passengers from across our domestic network to travel to Abu Dhabi, with convenient onward access to over 110 destinations on Etihad’s network, in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and the Americas‘.
Passengers will be able to book flights from tomorrow, the 21st of December 2016, via travel agents or through the airlines’ sales offices and contact centers, with travel starting from 11th of January 2017 when the codeshare arrangements are becoming operational.
Etihad Airways currently operates scheduled services to 10 destinations in Africa, including Nairobi, Entebbe and Dar es Salaam while Precision Air serves a number of domestic and regional destinations in East Africa. Notably is Kenya Airways a key shareholder in Precision Air and also codeshares on Etihad flights between Nairobi to Abu Dhabi.
