Etihad Airways and Saudi Arabia-based nasair have signed an agreement to codeshare on 26 flight sectors across the Middle East, North Africa and Asia.

Within the agreement Etihad Airways will place its ‘EY’ code on nasair flights between the Saudi cities of Jeddah and Medinah and Etihad Airways’ home base, Abu Dhabi.

nasair will place its ‘XY’ code on Etihad Airways flights between Abu Dhabi and Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Colombo, Dhaka, Kuwait, Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam, Tehran, Beirut, Bahrain, Muscat, Jakarta, Amman, Damascus, Basra, Baghdad, Erbil, Khartoum, Cairo, Tripoli, Istanbul and subsequently on flights operating to Europe, the Americas and South East Asia over the coming months.

Subject to regulatory approvals, Etihad Airways and nasair will display their respective codes on these routes during their winter schedules.

James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ President and Chief Executive Officer, said: “This codeshare agreement with nasair continues Etihad Airways’ pledge to connect air travellers with key destinations on our network and those of our partner airlines.”

“The agreement will provide air travellers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with seamless flight connections and access on more than 20 short and long haul Etihad Airways flights. It also enables Etihad Airways to boost our connections to Jeddah, and for the first time, Medinah.”

In addition to the codeshare with nasair, Etihad Airways has 38 other codeshare agreements in place with airlines across the world. Codeshare partnerships, along with equity acquisitions and organic growth, form the three pillars of Etihad Airways expansion plans.

Captain François Bouteiller, nasair’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “This new codeshare partnership with one of the fastest growing major airlines in the world is just one of many strategic projects being delivered over the coming months within nasair to expand our network and distribution. We are delighted to offer these new routes to our Customers and expect to further expand the available connections.

"We are excited to launch the first freesale codeshare relationship with Etihad Airways to give our customers more options when traveling with nasair," said Ahmed Sultan, nasair’s Director of Bilateral Agreement and Strategic Alliances. "This agreement will provide our customers with a variety of options and seamless access when traveling throughout our combined networks."