Etihad Airways and El Al Israel Airlines have signed a preliminary agreement for eventual cooperation, including codesharing and reciprocal loyalty programme benefits.
The memorandum of understanding, signed by El Al CEO Gonen Usishkin and Etihad Aviation Group CEO Tony Douglas, follows an agreement last month between United Arab Emirates and Israel to allow commercial flights between the two countries as part of a normalisation of diplomatic relations. Etihad plans to begin daily services between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv on 28 March 2021.
Besides codesharing and loyalty programme cooperation, the two carriers are looking to work together to increase tourism to Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv and to cooperate with aircraft maintenance and cargo services.