Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, has signed a codeshare agreement with Asiana Airlines, the major airline of South Korea.

The new cooperative relationship will see flights between Abu Dhabi, Seoul and beyond operating under an EY (Etihad) and OZ (Asiana) code.

The codeshare fares will be available for purchase from mid-November for departure from Etihad’s first Seoul service on December 10. The carriers also intend to commence reciprocal rewards programs, where members of each airline’s frequent flyer program can earn and redeem points on the codeshared flights.

The codeshare agreement will expand in time to additional territories across Europe, Middle East, Africa and Korea.

“South Korea is a very important market for the United Arab Emirates, and we are confident that this relationship will increase the flow of traffic between the two countries,” said James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ chief executive officer.

“I believe the Etihad-Asiana codeshare will enable our airlines to achieve greater synergies on many different fronts. Also, it will amplify benefits for all our customers in the future by broadening consumer choice through the promotion of transportation between Korea and the United Arab Emirates,” added Asiana Airlines president and CEO Young-Doo Yoon.

The airlines will work to cultivate the partnership across a number of fields including sales and marketing activities, system development, interline expansion and ground handling. 

Etihad Airways commences a daily return service to Seoul’s Incheon Airport from its home base in Abu Dhabi from December 10.-TradeArabia News Service