SAUDIA AND ETIHAD AIRWAYS SOLIDIFY RELATIONSHIP WITH RECIPROCAL ‘EARN AND BURN’ PARTNERSHIP

SAUDIA, the national flag carrier of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates’ national airline, Etihad Airways, announced a new reciprocal loyalty agreement, expanding on the existing codeshare deal between the two airlines.

Members of the ALFURSAN and Etihad Guest programmes can now earn and redeem miles on flights across both carriers’ networks. Loyalty programme members from both airlines will also be able to earn Tier Miles and Tier Segments, helping them progress to the next tier level faster. In addition, members will be able to earn miles on SAUDIA and Etihad codeshare flights.

Khalid Al-Bassam, Chief Commercial Officer, SAUDIA, commented: “We are pleased to strengthen our partnership with Etihad through this latest agreement, which further builds on our shared history of successful collaboration. By offering our guests more opportunities to earn miles we are bringing greater value, flexibility and convenience to their travel experience, which will help fuel growth in demand and contribute to our goal of enhancing the Kingdom’s aviation and tourism sectors.”

Terry Daly, Executive Director Guest Experience, Brand & Marketing, Etihad Airways, said: “As the aviation industry begins to restart and guests return to the skies, this partnership strengthens the airlines’ commitment to growing inbound business and tourism in their respective markets. It complements Etihad’s existing codeshare agreement with SAUDIA and opens more destinations for Etihad Guest members to earn and spend their miles through travel.”

The partners are also re-launching their codeshare cooperation beyond each other’s hubs. Under this extensive commercial partnership, which has seen more than 110,000 passenger journeys facilitated over the past two years, SAUDIA has added its ‘SV’ code to 15 destinations on the Etihad network in Saudi Arabia, Asia, the US and Europe. In addition, Etihad has added its ‘EY’ code to SAUDIA destinations in the Kingdom and Pakistan. This facilitates growth and recovery for both airlines, provides greater choice, convenience and flexibility for guests and freight customers, and further strengthens the ties between the two nations.

In other areas of cooperation, SAUDIA has been collaborating with Etihad Airways Engineering since 2016 at its MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Operations) facility in Abu Dhabi.

SAUDIA operates a total of 14 weekly flights to and from Abu Dhabi with daily flights departing from Jeddah and Riyadh.  It operates state-of-the-art Airbus aircraft between Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi. Guests onboard SAUDIA can enjoy a complimentary social media texting package as well as access a broad range of entertainment onboard the airline’s inflight system.