Etihad Airways and Saudia include cargo in new co-operation

Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) and Etihad Airways have agreed a new codeshare partnership and announced plans for greater commercial co-operation in other fields, including cargo.
The agreement between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s national flag carrier and Etihad, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, also includes closer co-operation on frequent flyer programme benefits as well as engineering and maintenance.
The announcement states: “In the cargo world, the teams in both airlines’ divisions are in talks about greater cooperation, recognising the increased volumes of freighter traffic flowing into and out of the UAE and the Saudi Arabia.”
It goes on to say that in 2017, Saudia carried more than 32 million passengers, registered over 200,000 flights and traveled more than 320 million km, while Saudia Cargo carried more than 637,000 tonnes of freight.
In 2017, Etihad Airways operated 7,578 passenger flights and carried 1.3 million passengers between Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Etihad Cargo carried more than 28,000 tons of cargo between the two countries last year.
The codeshare agreement was signed Jeddah by His Excellency Eng. Saleh bin Naser Al-Jasser, director general Saudi Arabian Airlines, and Tony Douglas, group chief executive officer, Etihad Aviation Group.
Al Jasser said: “The new partnership broadens aviation and transport links with the United Arab Emirates, building on the extensive aviation investment and strong foundation in the sector.
Douglas said: “The ties shared between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are the deepest that the two nations have, and therefore we are extremely proud to play our role and bring the two flag carriers together in this unique partnership.”