Big Fat Airline Wrap

 airberlin and Alitalia extend partnership

airberlin and Alitalia today announced that they will strengthen their commercial agreement to expand their flight offering between Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Italia.

Their mutual passengers will benefit from up to 25 percent increased weekly frequencies on non-stop flights to Italy including a new airberlin route from Dusseldorf hub base to Bologna with three flights a day, starting 2 May.

airberlin will also add capacity from Dusseldorf to Florence and Venice with the current daily operation to both Italian cities increasing up to three services a day.

The commercial agreement between the two airlines, both members of the Etihad Airways Partners group, will see the carriers codeshare on more than 1,400 flights a week on 91 different routes including 56 non-stop services and 750 weekly flights between Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy to destinations such as Rome, Milan-Linate, Venice, Bologna and Florence, for example.

Scandinavian Airlines signs up for Amadeus Fare Families

Customers of Scandinavian Airlines will soon be able to select all the ancillaries they want with full fare transparency and in just one click thanks to Amadeus Fare Families.

These Amadeus Fare Families will be available to travellers for indirect bookings when the new fares are implemented in April.

Travel agents will find that Amadeus Fare Families will improve their ability to customise their offers and to identify upselling opportunities.

Etihad Airways Group USD700 mil finance agreement

Etihad Airways Partners’ (EAP) US$700 million landmark finance transaction in 2015 has been recognised with a third key international award after being named Innovative Deal of the Year by the prestigious publication, Airfinance Journal.

The five-year bond agreement involved Etihad Airways, its subsidiary Etihad Airport Services and five of the carrier’s strategic equity airline partners – airberlin, Air Serbia, Air Seychelles, Alitalia and Jet Airways – within EAP.

Seen as the first joint financing deal of its kind in the airline industry, the ground-breaking transaction was aimed at funding EAP’s expansion.

James Hogan, Etihad Airways President and Chief Executive Officer, was joined by his finance team, including Chief Financial Officer James Rigney and Group Treasurer Ricky Thirion, at Airfinance Journal’s awards ceremony in Miami last night.

CEO of Malaysia Airlines Berhad departure

Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB) today announced that CEO and Managing Director Christoph Mueller will leave the company in September 2016, following his request to depart before the end of his three-year contract.

In ensuring continuity and an orderly succession, Mueller will serve a six-month notice period to September 2016. Following this, he has expressed his intention to the MAB Board of Directors (BOD) to remain with the airline as Non-Executive Director.

The Board has acknowledged Mr Mueller’s plan to leave ahead of time, which is due to his changing personal circumstances, and has commenced a search for a new CEO, which will encompass both internal and external potential candidates.

MAB chairman Tan Sri Md Nor Yusof said, “we are very disappointed to lose Christoph as CEO but we fully understand his reasons and respect his need to do this. On behalf of the Board, the management team and the employees, I want to thank Christoph for his immense contribution to the restructuring of Malaysia Airlines. Since he joined, Christoph has made a significant impact in putting the airline on the desired trajectory towards full recovery and we appreciate all his efforts.”

China Southern adopts Travelport Rich Content and Branding

Travelport and China Southern Airlines today jointly announce the extension of their multi-year content agreement. The agreement ensures Travelport customers worldwide will continue to have full access to the airline’s fares and inventories via the Travelport Travel Commerce Platform.

As part of this agreement, China Southern Airlines is now live with Rich Content and Branding, Travelport’s industry-leading merchandising solution. This means that China Southern Airlines is now able to retail and display its product offering more effectively via enhanced descriptions and rich visual imagery.

In addition, China Southern Airlines will now be able to make tailored or personalised offers to both individual travel agencies and/or the corporations that a Travel Management Company services via Rich Content and Branding, improving its engagement with targeted agents.

The addition of China Southern Airlines means that all four of China’s largest carriers are now live with Rich Content and Branding, along with over 150 other carriers globally.