Fiji Airways seals major interline deal with Etihad Airways
Rachna lal
suva
Fiji Airways has sealed a new and far-reaching interline agreement with Etihad Airways which will extend our national airline’s network to an additional 71 destinations globally.
Effective immediately, the agreement allows reciprocal sales to and from Fiji to 12 cities in Europe, 17 in the Middle East, five in Africa, five in North America, 29 in Asia and three in Australia.
This will not be the end as it has been described as the starting point of further negotiations between the two airlines.
Fiji Airways managing director/CEO, Stefan Pichler, said: “This partnership will help them put Fiji on the map in countries where there was no presence before.
“Etihad Airways will help us to reach out for new customers and to diversify tourism streams for our country. It is definitely a major step for Fiji Airways.
“This is made to develop tourism in a sustainable way because we all know that we all want to as a country diversify tourism industry.
“We do not want to depend on one market. This diversifies the risk So if one market is not doing too well, other markets will compensate.”
The Attorney-General and Minister for Tourism, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, hailed the agreement as an exciting new development for Fiji Airways and the Fijian economy.
“This opens up a whole new lucrative market for our tourism industry, enabling us to attract affluent visitors from Abu Dhabi – Etihad’s base – the other Gulf States, the rest of the Middle East and beyond,” he said.
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said the Fijian Government hopes this agreement will strengthen both Fiji’s national airline and the national economy for the long-term benefit of every Fijian.
President and chief executive of Etihad Airways, James Hogan, said believes Fiji is a great holiday market and they were happy to offer Fiji as an additional destination in their global network.
“The agreement also connects the outer South Pacific Islands to our network which creates more opportunities for our worldwide sales force,” he said.
Feedback: rachnal@fijisun.com.fj
ALSO READ
Our Questions and Answer Session with Fiji Airways MD/CEO Stefan Pichler >P6