Etihad, Aegean Airlines to codeshare flights to Greece, Australia

Etihad Airways has inked yet another partnership deal, this time with Greek's Aegean Airlines, linking the two airline's hubs of Abu Dhabi and Athens.

Under the deal, Aegean will commence four flights each week between Athens and Abu Dhabi beginning March 30th, 2014, with each service carrying Etihad Airways' EY flight code so that it's bookable via Etihad.

The Athens-Abu Dhabi flights will run on an Airbus A320 with 12 business class seats and 156 in economy.

Etihad already operates its own daily service between the two cities, which Aegean's new schedule is designed to complement.

Beyond Athens, Etihad Airways will place its flight code on Aegean-operated flights to 16 Greek destinations and to a further 10 cities across Europe.

Aegean Airlines also plans to place its A3 flight code on Etihad Airways-operated flights from Abu Dhabi to Sydney, Melbourne and Perth (along with Etihad services to Athens, Bahrain, Johannesburg and Kuwait).

"By partnering with Etihad Airways, Aegean gains access to the Gulf region and South Africa as well increasing connection opportunities to Australia" said Dimitris Gerogiannis, Aegean Airlines Managing Director.

One prized perk of the Etihad-Aegean partnership, and Aegean's planned codesharing on Etihad's Australian flights, is that it could give Australian travellers a greater chance to catapult themselves to prized Gold status with Star Alliance.

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David Flynn

David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.