Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, and Israel’s EL AL are set to explore deeper cooperation following the signing of a virtual Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported Thursday.
The wide-ranging MoU covers scope to introduce joint codeshare services between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv, as well as on the global flight networks beyond the two carriers’ hubs, WAM quoted Etihad Airways as saying in a statement.
The agreement also contains plans for greater commercial cooperation in the fields of cargo, engineering, loyalty, destination management and the optimal use of pilot and cabin crew training facilities, it said.
The MoU was signed virtually by Group Chief Executive Officer of Etihad Aviation Group Tony Douglas and Chief Executive Officer of EL AL Israel Airlines Gonen Usishkin.
"Following EL AL’s historic flight to Abu Dhabi, the first ever flight between Israel and the UAE, this MoU is the foundation of what we envision will be a strong ongoing relationship between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv,” said Douglas.
He looked forward to examining ways in which the two flag carriers can work more closely together to improve business operations and enhance the experience for their guests.
"Following the normalization of diplomatic relations between Israel and the UAE, we have been provided a great opportunity to examine the possibility of cooperation with Etihad Airways. This MoU is only the start and we believe that together, the two flag carriers will be able to provide our mutual customers with the best possible product and service. Already, the common goals we have outlined speak for the success of our future cooperation,” WAM quoted Usishkin as saying.
In addition to codeshare operations, the teams at Etihad Guest and EL AL Matmid loyalty programs will explore reciprocal earn and burn opportunities for its members, as well as other benefits. The airlines’ destination management teams will also collaborate to encourage reciprocal inbound tourism to Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv, said the news agency.
Both carriers’ engineering and cargo divisions are also set to begin talks about greater cooperation. These discussions would look at optimizing MRO (maintenance repair and overhaul) opportunities, as well as ways to increase volumes of freighter traffic flowing into and out of Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv, and across the carriers’ combined networks, WAM added.
Etihad announced its intention this week to commence daily services between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv from March 28, 2021.
