Negotiations targeting to reach a code sharing agreement is underway between the flag carrier Ethiopian Airlines and Europe‘s emerging giant Turkish Airlines (THY), Capital has learnt.

Boosting its presence in Africa THY has split its route from Addis Ababa to Istanbul via the Sudanese capital Khartoum into two independent routes mid last year. The four times a week THY direct flights from and to Addis Ababa Istanbul were first upgraded to five times a week and has just become daily on regular schedules as of last Monday March 30. Ethiopian is not currently flying direct to Istanbul, Turkey‘s business capital.
THY is aggressively promoting this 109th route as part of a bigger plan in an effort to make Istanbul Europe’s new hub for passengers fleeing to the continent.
Temel Kotil (PhD), President and CEO of THY had first hinted in November last year interest in partnering with Ethiopian.

If inked, the agreement will enable both carriers to jointly market and benefit from routes they will agree on. According to industry experts, most major airlines today have code sharing partnerships with other airlines and the arrangement is a key feature of the major airline alliances. Previously Ethiopian too had sealed such agreements. Signed a year ago, one is with the German Lufthansa Airlines to instigate a daily code share services between Addis Ababa and Frankfurt.

Another is with Brussels Airlines for the daily Brussels – Addis Ababa flights which is operated by Ethiopian. This agreement was signed by the two carriers in May last year. "Such partnerships and growing interest from Europe’s big carriers is due to Ethiopian’s decades of reputable operations in Africa particularly in West African profitable routes," the expert explained to Capital.
Staying strong in the face of economic downturn that hard hit the aviation industry as well, Ethiopian recently announced a strong mid year profits and late last week it announced new flights to be commenced.

Effective from June 2, the flag carrier will have three weekly flights to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea’s capital. The three weekly flights will be operated on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, and will provide fast and easy connections between Malabo and most major cities in the Middle East and Asia including Dubai, Kuwait, Beirut, Bombay, Bangkok, Hong Kong, and Beijing.

Another three weekly flights to be operated on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays with return flights on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays to Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, is also announced to commence by June.