Etihad Airways has lost a legal battle in Germany to be allowed to continue selling tickets for some codeshare flights with Air Berlin.
A German court has turned down Etihad’s bid to be allowed to sell 29 Air Berlin flights, which are covered under a codeshare agreement between the two airlines, until the end of the current winter schedule.
This means that the Abu Dhabi airline will not be able to sell tickets on these 29 flights from January 16 until late March when the winter season ends. Although the decision does not affect another 50 routes on which Etihad and Air Berlin also currently codeshare.
Etihad has already said it will launch an appeal against the court’s decision next week and confirmed that it would honour all booked itineraries.
“Etihad Airways is deeply disappointed by the German court’s decision handed down today. We are currently reviewing the judgment and will lodge an appeal early next week,” said the airline in a statement.
"The social and economic damage to Germany by this decision is significant. The withdrawal of approval for codeshare services on 29 routes materially reduces competition and consumer choice within and beyond Germany and causes inconvenience to passengers."
The affected routes are not covered by the current bilateral air traffic rights deal between Germany and the United Arab Emirates.
The German government had allowed the codeshare agreement covering these flights to continue until January 15 so that the airlines could have time to resolve the problem.
Etihad holds a 29.2 per cent stake in Air Berlin as part of the Middle Eastern airline’s strategy of taking minority shareholdings in other carriers to create an “equity alliance” of airlines.
"We will continue to stand by our partner, Air Berlin, to promote competition and offer a superior product and travel experience," added Etihad.