LONDON – United Arab Emirates’ national airline Etihad Airways, based out of Abu Dhabi, announced that it has signed a new partnership agreement with the British low-cost carrier (LCC) easyJet.
The new partnership, which commences immediately, will enable customers to purchase tickets through the EasyJet worldwide website connecting the two carriers’ extensive destination networks, opening a new gateway for passengers to travel between Europe, Africa, the Azores and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This partnership becomes Etihad’s first use of its New Distribution Capability (NDC) platform, which was set up to provide the technical capability for partnerships that were previously not possible.
Dohop is responsible for powering the easyJet worldwide website and has been paramount in enabling easyJet to connect it’s European and African leisure flights to long-haul adventures, whilst also providing this NDC platform. Etihad has stated that using the NDC, they plan to add more airline partnerships in 2020 alongside adding more destinations to this new easyJet partnership. Ali Saleh, Etihad Airways Vice President Alliances and Partnerships commented on this news, stating that it is a partnership of “two great brands”.
“This new collaboration between two great brands 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.”
Commenting on Etihad’s NDC platform, Saleh added, “The ability to provided end-to-end booking capabilities through our NDC platform will provide customers with ‘one-stop’ solutions for seamless travel with partners, whether legacy or low-cost, through Etihad’s global gateways.”easyJet’s Head of Commercial Partnerships, Rachel Smith also commented on the news, expressing excitement over the new deal.“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”,
Customers will now have the ability to connect to Abu Dhabi from 68 cities on EasyJet’s website using 10 European gateways from Etihad’s network. Those gateways are; Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Rome, Geneva, Madrid, Manchester, Milan Malpensa, and Zurich. This is a significant step for both brands as it connects easyJet even further with the international market, but also connects Etihad with the more European-based markets.
It will ultimately enable both brands to expand their business takings, including revenues, passenger numbers and more. All in good time.
