Etihad Airways A340-500 Aircraft.
Etihad Airways has said that it is deeply disappointed by German Court ruling that the airline and Air Berlin cannot continue code-sharing on some of their routes beyond mid-January.
The national airline of the United Arab Emirates stated this in a statement released on the German Court judgement.
“Etihad Airways is deeply disappointed by the German court’s decision handed down. We are reviewing the judgement and will file an appeal against the decision early next week.” The airline said
Etihad has a 29.2 per cent ownership of Germany based Air Berlin, the second largest airline in Germany.
Codeshare agreement with Etihad allowed Air Berlin to extend its reach way to many destinations in Asia and was able to offer very competitive rates using this cooperation agreement with Etihad.
The bone of contention is the 31 routes, with more than 50 others unaffected.
Continuing Etihad stated that the social and economic damage to Germany by this decision is significant.
It added that the withdrawal of approval for codeshare services on 29 routes materially reduces competition and consumer choice within and beyond Germany and causes inconvenience to passengers.
“Notwithstanding, we will continue to stand by our partner, Air Berlin, to promote competition and offer a superior product and travel experience. We will continue to honour all booked itineraries.”
“Our prospective joint flight schedule remains unchanged and bookable. In addition, all flights via Abu Dhabi and connecting to the worldwide Etihad Airways network will continue to be marketed jointly. We continue to stand for competition in Germany and a better product offering for our customers.” the statement reads
Air Berlin stated that its partner Etihad Airways continues to stand behind Air Berlin and that it would support Etihad Airways in all measures.