Ethiopian Airlines and Air India have expanded their codeshare coverage, to enable passenger travelling between India and Africa to enjoy seamless connectivity options between domestic Indian points and destinations in Africa.
The two Star Alliance member carriers, which already had a codeshare in place for the Mumbai and New Delhi routes, have expanded their agreement to include African points on Ethiopian operated network through its main hub in Addis Ababa, such as Kigali, Entebbe, Dar es Salaam, Harare and Nairobi, and on Air India’s domestic routes beyond Mumbai and New Delhi with the inclusion of Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru.
Tewolde Gebremariam, CEO, Ethiopian Airlines Group said, “We are pleased to further expand the successful codeshare partnership we already have with our Star Alliance partner Air India. Availing more routes and seamless connectivity options will greatly benefit the significant number of Indian community in Africa as well as Africans travelling to India for business or leisure, thereby improving the investment, trade, tourism and people-to-people ties between India and Africa. With a single ticket, passengers from Air India and Ethiopia will be able to fly to many African and Indian destinations, and with the recent joining of Air India into Star Alliance accrue and redeem their miles freely on both carriers.”
Ethiopian operates daily flights to both Mumbai and New Delhi, and is planning to significantly scale-up its footprint in the Indian market with the start of double-daily flights and the opening of a new route in Southern India in 2015.