Etihad has become the latest carrier to join the Worldwide by Easyjet connections service.
The move means customers can now book tickets through the Easyjet website, for connecting flights between 68 European cities and Abu Dhabi via ten European airports served by Etihad (Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona, Paris CDG, Rome, Geneva, Madrid, Manchester, Milan Malpensa, and Zurich).
Easyjet launched Worldwide in 2017 with airlines Norwegian and Westjet. Since then it has signed up Corsair, La Compagnie, Loganair, Singapore Airlines and its low-cost subsidiary Scoot, Air Transat, Virgin Atlantic, Emirates and Cathay Pacific.
Under the Worldwide programme, connecting passengers are subject to minimum connection times, and flights are not held. If a passenger misses their connecting flight they are transferred to the next available service.
The new agreement with Easyjet marks Etihad’s first use of the New Distribution Capability (NDC) platform, which provides technical capability for new partnerships previously not possible. Etihad says that it plans to add more airlines and travel partners to its NDC portfolio in 2020.
Commenting on the news Ali Saleh, Etihad Airways vice president alliances and partnerships, said:
“This new collaboration between two great brands is a logical leap forward for both our companies. Easyjet is a perfect launch partner for us in Europe, allowing us to reliably increase the breadth of our continental reach to and from Abu Dhabi, as we enhance ways of connecting directly with more airlines and travel partners around the world.
“The ability to provide end-to-end booking capabilities through our NDC platform will provide customers with ‘one stop’ solutions for seamless travel with partners, whether legacy or low-cost, through Etihad’s global gateways.”
