Emirates and ITA Airways have inked an MoU for the expansion of their existing interline into a full codeshare partnership.

Once activated, the codeshare will boost travel options and connection choices for customers travelling between Dubai, Italy and beyond.

Under the codeshare, Emirates’ customers will be able to smoothly travel to a number of domestic cities in Italy from the airline’s gateway in Rome, including popular tourist destinations like Florence, Genoa, Palermo, Trieste, among others.

Customers will also be able to connect to cities across Europe including Tirana, Sofia, and other major cities.

ITA Airways customers will benefit from significantly enhanced choices by connecting to the Emirates route network from Dubai via the airline’s Rome services.

The connectivity provided between Emirates and ITA Airways will eventually offer combined ticketing and seamless baggage transfers. The planned agreement will also support inbound visitation to Italian points from regions across the Emirates network, including Australia, the Far East, Middle East/GCC and West Asia.

The MoU signed will establish the foundation to strengthen the partnership between both airlines, creating one-stop connections to popular cities across Italy and wider Europe with ITA Airways, and opening up simpler and faster journeys to the Emirates network from Dubai with the best routes, schedules and connections.

Adnan Kazim, Deputy President and Chief Commercial Officer, Emirates Airline said: “Enhancing our partnerships and boosting our presence in key regions such as Europe is an integral part of our commercial strategy, and underscores our commitment to providing customers flexibility through our partners’ complementary networks.

“Working closely with ITA Airways will strengthen our footprint across exciting cities in Italy, and key points in Europe. We look forward to fully activate our partnership with ITA Airways in the coming months and providing unrivalled access to both of our growing networks.”

Antonino Turicchi, Chairman of ITA Airways said: “We are pleased to sign this codeshare partnership with Emirates today. This MoU further enhances ITA Airways’ commercial strategy of growth and opens up a privileged access route to all passengers who will benefit the connectivity via Rome Fiumicino and Dubai.

“This agreement marks the Company's 35th codeshare partnership, an excellent result we have achieved in just over two years.”

The MoU also seeks to establish extending reciprocal loyalty benefits on both airlines’ frequent flyer programmes at a later stage.

Once the necessary government and regulatory approvals are obtained, the codeshare flights will progressively be made available to customers across online and travel agency platforms. – TradeArabia News Service