airberlin and Alitalia Sign Codeshare Agreement

airberlin and Alitalia have signed a codeshare agreement.

All of airberlin’s and Alitalia’s 412 weekly nonstop flights between Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy will be codeshare flights effective this winter season.

As of 26 October 2014, airberlin’s three daily flights from Dusseldorf and double daily flights from Berlin-Tegel will operate into Milan-Linate instead of Malpensa.

Furthermore, the three daily flights from Vienna operated by NIKI, the Austrian airline which is part of the airberlin group, will be directed to Linate as well.

Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, CEO of airberlin, said, “The codeshare agreement with Alitalia raises the importance of Italy for airberlin to a new level. We are optimizing our service for both business and holiday travelers by operating our flights to Linate, the most convenient airport to Italy’s number one business and fashion destination Milan. Together with Alitalia, we are going to offer the most extensive nonstop route network between top destinations in Italy and Germany.”

The partners have also agreed on selective codeshares beyond their home hubs. For instance Alitalia will place its “AZ” code on some of airberlin’s domestic flights such as from Munich to Cologne, Dusseldorf, Hamburg and Berlin. At the same time airberlin will place its “AB” code on selected domestic and international Alitalia flights via Rome and Milan-Linate to, for example, Naples, Brindisi, Reggio Calabria, Alghero, Athens or Malta as well as on some of Alitalia’s long haul flights to South America such as Sao Paolo and Rio de Janeiro.

All codeshare flights will be published in the reservation systems by 20 October 2014 for flights commencing 26 October 2014. Codesharing on Alitalia’s long-haul and some international connections will commence after regulatory approval.

Besides the new codeshare services and more convenient flight connections, airberlin and Alitalia have signed a frequent flyer agreement which allows their guests to earn and redeem bonus miles on the entire route network of both airlines on a reciprocal basis for flights starting on or after the 1st of November 2014.

Gabriele Del Torchio, CEO of Alitalia, said, “We are very pleased to sign with airberlin this agreement that will allow Alitalia to offer its guest more direct frequencies between Italy and Germany and an extensive flight schedule, optimal for business daily round trips. This agreement strengthens Alitalia’s role in the development of traffic flows between the two countries. Alitalia continues its strategy of developing commercial agreements with major international companies, with the aim of offering an  increasingly larger number of destinations, routes and frequencies to its customers.”

Both, airberlin and Alitalia are expected to remain members of oneworld and Skyteam respectively.