MIAMI: Etihad Airways has reached a deal to deepen its relationship with Air France-KLM and separately has agreed to sell its stake in Aer Lingus Group Plc, Etihad’s CEO James Hogan said.
Etihad and Air France-KLM will share codes on more flights starting this year, opening more European cities to the Abu Dhabi-based airline’s customers, Hogan said on the sidelines of the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) annual meeting.
The airlines have yet to finalize terms of the deal.
Hogan said that Etihad will sell its 4.99-percent stake in Aer Lingus, the Irish flag carrier, in a potential takeover bid by British Airways-parent International Airlines Group.
The moves reflect Etihad’s strategy to grow its route map through airline partnerships. With codeshares on French domestic flights imminent, Etihad also is looking to add destinations via codeshares with Philippine Airlines, Garuda Indonesia and Malaysia Airlines, Hogan said.
“We’re keen to maintain a relationship with (IAG). Indications are that they’re interested in doing so too,” Hogan said.
Kevin Knight, Etihad’s chief strategy and planning officer, said in the same interview that Etihad hopes to expand its codeshare with Air France-KLM “as broadly as possible.”
Etihad currently lists its flight code on nine Air France cities and 21 KLM destinations.
Hogan said sharing frequent-flier rewards would be the next step in the airline’s partnership with Air France-KLM. It has not discussed or considered taking an equity stake in the European carrier, although saying this would never happen is “not possible,” Hogan said.
Across the Atlantic, Knight said Etihad does not have plans to introduce new service to the United States for 24 months.
Etihad in expanded codeshare deal with Air France-KLM
Etihad in expanded codeshare deal with Air France-KLM
Work suspended on Riyadh’s massive Mukaab megaproject: Reuters
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has suspended planned construction of a colossal cube-shaped skyscraper at the center of a downtown development in Riyadh while it reassesses the project's financing and feasibility, four people familiar with the matter said.
The Mukaab was planned as a 400-meter by 400-meter metal cube containing a dome with an AI-powered display, the largest on the planet, that visitors could observe from a more than 300-meter-tall ziggurat — or terraced structure —inside it.
Its future is now unclear, with work beyond soil excavation and pilings suspended, three of the people said. Development of the surrounding real estate is set to continue, five people familiar with the plans said.
The sources include people familiar with the project's development and people privy to internal deliberations at the PIF.
Officials from PIF, the Saudi government and the New Murabba project did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Real estate consultancy Knight Frank estimated the New Murabba district would cost about $50 billion — roughly equivalent to Jordan’s GDP — with projects commissioned so far valued at around $100 million.
Initial plans for the New Murabba district called for completion by 2030. It is now slated to be completed by 2040.
The development was intended to house 104,000 residential units and add SR180 billion to the Kingdom’s GDP, creating 334,000 direct and indirect jobs by 2030, the government had estimated previously.
(With Reuters)
