Etihad Airways wins court backing for Air Berlin codeshare

ABU DHABI // Etihad Airways won backing from a German court to temporarily continue a codeshare deal with Air Berlin that was set to expire tomorrow.

Yesterday, the administrative court of Braunschweig allowed Etihad and the German airline to continue their partnership until November 8, providing an opportunity to resolve differences in ongoing talks between the governments of the UAE and Germany.

Etihad launched the legal action after Germany’s federal ministry of transport and digital infrastructure delayed approval for Etihad’s codesharing on the Air Berlin services for its winter 2015/2016 schedule, which was due to begin tomorrow and last until March 31.

The airline said it applied for the injunction to “help protect the German carrier’s 8,000 employees” and to “provide the passengers who have booked more than 82,000 journeys with clarity and confidence”.

It said the decision meant it could continue to honour its flights, meaning passengers’ travel arrangements would be unaffected.

James Hogan, the president and chief executive of Etihad, welcomed the court’s decision.

“The failure by the German government to approve the codeshares in time, would severely, and possibly terminally, damage Air Berlin, Germany’s second-largest airline, of which Etihad Airways owns 29.2 per cent,” he said.

“In addition to the damage it would cause to Air Berlin, the withdrawal of approval for codeshare services on 29 routes would critically reduce consumer choice within and beyond Germany, and cause massive inconvenience to passengers, including during the peak Christmas and New Year travel periods,” he said.

He said that the codeshare routes in question had previously been approved by Germany’s civil aviation authority, and that the partnership had allowed more than two million passengers to connect between the networks of both airlines, as well as contributing €252 million (Dh1.02bn) to Air Berlin’s earnings.

Mr Hogan also said that a decision against the codeshare agreement would cause “social and economic damage to Germany”.

“By suddenly disallowing established and legitimate code-share flights, the government will endanger the jobs of 8,000 people directly employed by airberlin, and many more jobs provided by the airline’s suppliers and business partners in affected destinations.”

It would also diminish German passengers’ connectivity with the Middle East and other destinations, Mr Hogan said.

“Business people, tourists and families travelling between these destinations and Germany will be faced with less choice and higher costs,” he said.

Aviation expert Saj Ahmad said the court action by Etihad was a way of “protecting its investment in Air Berlin” and “showing its commitment to the airline and the German market”.

As for passengers, Mr Ahmad, the chief analyst at StrategicAero Research, said it was “business as usual”.

“They won’t see any changes. Summer schedules may be affected but that’s not clear at this stage,” he said.

newsdesk@thenational.ae