Etihad Airways and UK's easyjet enter into new partnership

Etihad Airways has joined forces with British low-cost carrier easyJet to give passengers access to networks of both airlines in Europe.

The collaboration, which comes into effect immediately, will allow customers to purchase tickets on the easyJet website from 68 cities on the airline’s network in Europe to Abu Dhabi, connecting on to Etihad Airways flights from 10 European gateways in Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Rome, Geneva, Madrid, Manchester, Milan Malpensa, and Zurich.

"This new collaboration is a logical leap forward for both our companies. easyJet is a perfect launch partner for us in Europe, allowing us to reliably increase the breadth of our continental reach to and from Abu Dhabi, as we enhance ways of connecting directly with more airlines and travel partners around the world," said Ali Saleh, Etihad Airways Vice President Alliances and Partnerships.

Rachel Smith, easyJet’s Head of Commercial Partnerships, said, "We're excited to announce our partnership with Etihad Airways, which opens up Abu Dhabi as a destination to our passengers and more of Europe to Etihad. Through smart self-connections and strategic partnerships, we continue to extend the reach of the worldwide by easyJet network offering more value and more routes to more customers."

The partnership is the first use of Etihad's ‘new distribution capability’ (NDC) platform that allows for new partnerships that were previously not possible.

The carrier plans to add more airlines and travel partners to their NDC portfolio in 2020.