One Step Closer To Star Alliance? Emirates Announces Codeshare Agreement With avianca

Summary

  • Another codeshare agreement for Emirates, this time with avianca in South America.
  • Limited benefits on specific routes – London, Barcelona, Madrid to Colombian cities.
  • Speculation on Emirates joining Star Alliance despite existing strong partnerships and massive network.

Emirates has announced its latest codeshare partnership, joining forces with avianca in South America.

One more partnership

Emirates is a global airline with a wide-reaching network. Despite its massive offering, the Gulf carrier has taken advantage of codeshare agreements, which have been popular with airlines worldwide since the 1990s. In recent years, Emirates has drawn closer to several Star Alliance airlines, leading many to think it will join the alliance soon.

Related

Codeshare Agreements: Everything You Need To Know

Though Emirates and avianca will codeshare, the benefits will only apply to specific routes. According to today’s announcement, only flights traveling through London, Barcelona, and Madrid will have codeshares. On the avianca side, passengers can connect to three Colombian cities, Bogotá, Medellín, and Cali. On the Emirates side, passengers can fly to Dubai from the three European cities listed above.

Emirates Airlines's Boeing 777-200LR landing

Photo: JetKat l Shutterstock

Below are the routes in detail:

Avianca flights with EK code

London Heathrow – Bogota

Madrid – Bogota

Madrid – Medellin

Madrid – Cali

Barcelona – Bogota

Emirates flights with avianca code

Barcelona – Dubai

Madrid – Dubai

London Heathrow – Dubai

“We are delighted to establish a codeshare partnership with Colombia’s largest carrier, avianca to provide seamless connections on select routes to customers of both airlines. The codeshare agreement will enable us to expand our reach and allow our customers to use our services and fly to additional popular points in Colombia.” – Adnan Kazim, Deputy President, and Chief Commercial Officer, Emirates

Claudio Velez, avianca’s Chief Revenue Officer expressed the airline’s excitement in bringing Colombia closer to Dubai and partnering with one of the most prestigious airlines in Europe. Emirates currently has more than 161 codeshare, interline, and intermodal agreements.

An Avianca Boeing 787-8 landing

Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

According to today’s announcement, the codeshare takes effect on June 4. Codeshare flights are already available through either airline’s website, respective apps, contact centers, and travel agents.

Closer to Star Alliance?

Less than two years ago, Emirates announced a codeshare agreement with United Airlines. This was a monumental moment as the history between American and Gulf carriers was tense. _____ had criticized Gulf carriers several times for receiving government subsidies.

Related

Burying The Hatchet: A New Relationship Between Emirates and United Airlines

The two airlines were able to put feelings aside and join forces on their massive networks to offer passengers better connectivity. At this time, speculation arose that Emirates could be positioning itself to join Star Alliance. American Airlines was already in the oneworld alliance with Qatar Airways, and many assumed that Delta Air Lines would partner with Etihad Airways. Since signing its partnership with United, Emirates has joined Air Canada and now avianca. While there is speculation that Emirates could join Star Alliance, many argue that there is no reason for that to happen, given that the airline already has such strong partnerships and a massive network of its own.

According to Emirates’ website, it partners with Aegean Airlines, COPA Airlines, TAP Portugal, and South African Airways and has interline agreements with several other Star Alliance carriers. Emirates’ partnerships extend beyond the Star Alliance, and many would be in jeopardy if it decided to join the alliance.

Could you see Emirates joining Star Alliance? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments below.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *