After being teased, Emirates and Air Canada have announced the launch of their codeshare programme.
The new partnership will allow customers of the carriers to enjoy seamless connectivity to 46 markets spanning three continents, including destinations across the Americas, the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Indian subcontinent.
The first codeshare tickets are now on sale to 35 markets and destinations, with a further 11 from the 1st of December (subject to government authorisations.
What’s on the first set of codeshares?
Emirates will place its code on flights from Toronto (Air Canada’s hub) with destinations listed including Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa and Vancouver.
Meanwhile, Air Canada will place its code routes operated by Emirates from its hub in Dubai, including Colombo, Dhaka, Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Bangkok, Hanoi, Phuket, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Jeddah and Muscat, Addis Ababa and Dar Es Salaam.
What about reciprocal elite earning?
For those expecting to earn points on each other’s programmes (between Air Canada Aeroplan and Emirates Skywards), this appears to be a work in progress, with the airlines only saying “Coming soon”, with no set date.
When the joint offering goes live, it will allow members of Aeroplan and Skywards to earn and redeem points on flights operated by Emirates and Air Canada, respectively. Eligible passengers will also soon be able to take advantage of reciprocal lounge access, along with select benefits for Aeroplan Elite and Skywards members when travelling on the partner airline.
Further details and launch dates will be announced at a later date.
In Quotes
Sir Tim Clark, President of Emirates Airline said:
“We are delighted to establish a partnership with Air Canada, to expand our reach into more points in North America. Partnering with Canada’s flag carrier enables us to offer customers seamless connectivity when flying to domestic points within Canada via Toronto. Besides the added-value benefits and rewarding experiences that leisure and business travellers of both airlines can look forward to, the partnership allows Air Canada’s customers to travel to destinations across Asia, Africa and the Middle East, thanks to our expansive network via our hub in Dubai.”
Michael Rousseau, President and Chief Executive Officer at Air Canada said:
“This exciting new partnership with Emirates will allow Air Canada to meaningfully broaden the choice of flight options for our customers. It will create easier connections between Canada and destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. As well, it will allow us to draw more connecting traffic through our Toronto global hub and expand our presence in these dynamic regions where demand for global travel is expected to grow,”
A work in progress
It seems the first point of this codeshare has been to get the routes active and people travelling.
With the codeshare offering 35 designations in the first instance, it should provide some good one-ticket options. When it expands in December, it will open up a much wider choice.
Of course, it would have been nice to see reciprocal mileage and lounge access on day one – however, like the codeshare, it’s a work in progress.
For those elite flyers, a little more patience is needed.
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