News
Etihad to form leisure airline, codeshares with Kulula
October 7th 2016
The UAE’s Etihad Aviation Group and German leisure travel conglomerate, TUI Group, are in discussions to create a European leisure airline group, which is expected to operate up to 58 aircraft on point-to-point services from Germany, Austria and Switzerland to key tourist markets. Read More »
Orient Aviation understands that Etihad and TUI will share in the venture with an Austrian foundation. An official announcement is expected at the end of the month.
The new carrier will use TUIfly’s existing narrow bodies and add up to 20 aircraft from Etihad controlled airberlin, which needed to quickly reduce its fleet. In the first half of 2016, airberlin posted a net loss of €271.5 million. In September, the oneworld carrier announced a restructuring plan, which included leasing or selling up to 40 A320s to German rival, Lufthansa Group.
Separately, Etihad has struck a codeshare deal with South Africa’s Kulula, its first partnership with a low-cost carrier. From October 30, Etihad will place its ‘EY’ code on Kulula flights from Johannesburg to Cape Town, Durban, East London and George.
