Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has announced its first codeshare operation out of Pakistan with American Airlines, providing air travellers in Pakistan with greater access to the US market.

The new codeshare agreement starts on March 18 and will offer customers in Pakistan easy and convenient connections between Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore and key destinations in the US, including Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, Miami and Houston. The expansion follows the original codeshare agreement made between Etihad Airways and American Airlines in September 2009.

Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways Chief Commercial Officer, said: “The US is a key market for Etihad and a popular destination for many of our customers in Pakistan. Etihad has seen substantial growth to and from the US over the past few years and we are committed to strengthening the ties between the Pakistan and US markets through this new codeshare.

“As our first codeshare out of Pakistan, we are delighted to partner with American Airlines, one of the world’s largest and most respected airlines and we look forward to strengthening this strategic relationship further into the future.”

Passengers transferring between the two carriers will be able to purchase a single ticket for their journey and enjoy the convenience of being able to check in luggage through to their final destination.

Etihad Airways currently places its ‘EY’ code on a number of transatlantic services operated by American Airlines between Europe and the US, as well as selected domestic services operated beyond New York and Chicago. The carriers recently confirmed that American Airlines will also place its ‘AA’ code on Etihad services from Kuwait city, with Etihad placing its two letter ‘EY’ code onto American Airlines operations to Atlanta, Detroit and Minneapolis via Chicago.

Etihad Airways currently flies to three destinations in North America - New York, Chicago and Toronto in Canada - and started operations to Pakistan in 2004 with flights to and from Karachi.  Etihad now offers services to Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore as well as 13 destinations in the Indian Subcontinent and 60 destinations across the globe

American Airlines currently operates transatlantic services from New York to Barcelona, Brussels, Milan, London, Paris, Rome and Zurich; Chicago to Brussels, Dublin, Frankfurt, London, Manchester, Moscow, New Delhi, Paris and Rome; Miami to London, Madrid and Paris; Dallas/Fort Worth to London, Madrid, Paris and Frankfurt; Los Angeles to London; and Raleigh/Durham to London.