It seems there is a follow on Emirates and Air Canada codeshare, with flydubai planning to codeshare with the Canadian carrier.
The new agreement will allow passengers flying between Canada, the Middle East, East Africa, Indian Subcontinent and Southern Asia further convenient travel options. This is pending regulatory approval. Once approved, Air Canada’s marketing code will be placed on nine routes operated from Dubai by flydubai, giving customers the ability to travel to these markets with the issuance of a single ticket.
The nine routes include:
- Bahrain
- Dammam
- Jeddah
- Madinah
- Muscat in
- Colombo
- Karachi
There will also be an interline agreement as well, to allow passengers to connect seamlessly via Dubai International to connect to flydubai’s network – which spans the Middle East, East Africa and Southern Asia. Of these destinations, more than 30 are unique to flydubai and not flown by other partners of Air Canada.
In Quotes
Hamad Obaidalla, Chief Commercial Officer at flydubai, said:
“We are very pleased to be adding Air Canada to our list of partners and to offer their passengers a seamless travel experience on the flydubai network. We look forward to growing this partnership that offers passengers the benefits and the convenience of connecting via the Dubai aviation hub and we look forward to welcoming them on board soon.”
Mark Galardo, Executive Vice President, Revenue and Network Planning at Air Canada, said:
“Air Canada is very pleased to partner with flydubai, further expanding our connectivity to the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent, a growing source of immigration and travel to Canada. This new partnership is a perfect complement to Air Canada’s nonstop service to Dubai from Toronto and Vancouver, and growing our relationship with Emirates, flydubai’s codeshare partner. Together we look forward to bringing together our networks and building a better experience for our customers.”
In the works
The codeshare is seemingly the beginning for both of these airlines, as they will work to improve the connection process at Dubai International Airport.
For frequent flyers, there is positive news too – whilst at the beginning there won’t be much integration other than the placing of the Air Canada code on flydubai flights, both airlines are working toward introducing expanded features and benefits for one another’s loyalty programme members.
This will be announced later this year.
An unsurprising agreement
Considering that Air Canada has signed an agreement with Emirates, it was inevitable that flydubai would follow eventually to cover the routes that don’t merit an Emirates presence.
Whilst the codeshare will initially operate to nine destinations, the interline will help those passengers who wish to travel just on one ticket, opening up simpler options for passengers.
With some frequent flyer integration too, it will offer passengers additional benefits along the line.
It seems that ticket sales are proceeding – so if you do need an Air Canada with a flydubai ticket, you’ll be able to obtain one through the usual distribution channels.
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