Abu Dhabi – Mubasher: The UAE’s Etihad Airways and Saudi Arabian Airlines announced plans to build on their codeshare partnership agreement which has driven positive growth in traffic since November 2018.

Jointly, the UAE’s national airline and Saudi national flag carrier have transported more than 16,000 passengers across the partnership, Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.

"With greater choice now available, more flexibility across both [airlines'] schedules and world-leading products and services, together, [both airlines] now fly approximately 150 guests per day across each other’s networks," Etihad Aviation Group’s CEO Tony Douglas said.

Under the partnership, both airlines placed their “EY” and “SV” codes on 14 routes with the addition of Vienna within the coming days.

In addition, Etihad will place its “EY” code on Saudi flights to Tunis, Sharm El Sheikh, and Alexandria, while Saudia will place its “SV” code on Etihad flights to Tokyo, Nagoya, and Baku.

The second phase will include placing the “EY” code on flights to Algiers, Dhaka and Erbil and the “SV” code on routes including Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Moscow, Dusseldorf, Hong Kong, Kathmandu, Lagos, Minsk, Rabat, Astana, and more destinations in India.

Etihad flies an average of 1.3 million passengers annually to and from the kingdom. It is worth noting that Etihad Cargo transported more than 23,200 tonnes of cargo between the two GCC nations in 2018.

Currently, Etihad operates 84 flights weekly to Saudi Arabia.