Etihad Airways said on Tuesday it was planning to expand its codeshare deal in a bid to grow its operations in Russia.
The Abu Dhabi airline, which is celebrating four years of its non-stop service between Moscow and Abu Dhabi, said its deal with S7 Airlines was being expanded to increase services to passengers.
The UAE flag carrier commenced operations to the Russian capital on December 1, 2008, and since then has carried almost 250,000 travellers and 620 tonnes of cargo on the route.
Five weekly flights became a daily service in 2009, and load factors have increased in each year of operation, Etihad said in a statement.
James Hogan, president and CEO of Etihad Airways, said: “Moscow-Abu Dhabi has been a tremendous success with strong load factor and good traffic feeds from our codeshare partner, S7 Airlines. The aim now is to expand services and connectivity over both Abu Dhabi and Moscow with S7.”
Etihad codeshares on S7 operated services from Moscow to the Russian cities of Kazan, Samara, Krasnodar and Saint Petersburg.
S7 codeshares on Etihad Airways’ daily Moscow-Abu Dhabi service and onwards to Bangkok. Subject to receiving necessary government approvals, the next phase of the partnership with S7 will see the Russian carrier’s flight code placed on Etihad flights to Sydney and Melbourne.
Hogan added that “additional expansion opportunities are also being actively evaluated”.
Etihad Airways operates a two-cabin Airbus A320 aircraft between Abu Dhabi and Moscow, providing 1,904 seats a week.
Hogan said: “We remain committed to building the Etihad Airways brand in the Russian market… Working closely with S7 Airlines, our Russian partners, the travel industry, the business community and governments, we look forward to further cementing the Etihad Airways brand across Russia and deepening the already strong relationship between Russia and the UAE.”
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