Flydubai and Air Canada sign codeshare deal to boost connectivity

Airlines also plan to introduce expanded features and benefits for their loyalty programmes

Flydubai continues to seek partnerships as it embarks on its next phase of growth. Photo: flydubai

Flydubai has signed a codeshare partnership with Air Canada to boost connectivity between the North American country and the Middle East.

As part of the agreement, Air Canada's marketing code will be placed on nine routes operated by flydubai from its hub in the emirate, allowing passengers to travel with a single ticket, flydubai said on Wednesday.

The routes include Jeddah, Dammam and Madinah in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Sri Lanka's Colombo and Pakistan's Karachi.

Through an interline agreement passengers will also be able to connect from Dubai to more than 60 flydubai destinations in the Middle East, East Africa and South Asia. Of these, more than 30 routes are unique to flydubai and not flown by other partners of Air Canada.

“We look forward to growing this partnership that offers passengers the benefits and the convenience of connecting via the Dubai aviation hub and we look forward to welcoming them on board soon,” said Hamad Obaidalla, chief commercial officer of flydubai.

The two airlines are also planning to further improve the connection process in Dubai and working towards introducing “expanded features and benefits for one another’s loyalty programme members to be announced later this year”, flydubai said.

The partnership will help Air Canada tap further into the Middle East and Indian Subcontinent, which are a “growing source” of immigration and travel to Canada, said its executive vice president Mark Galardo.

“This new partnership is a perfect complement to Air Canada’s non-stop service to Dubai from Toronto and Vancouver, and growing our relationship with Emirates, flydubai’s codeshare partner,” he said.

Emirates and Air Canada started their codeshare deal last November.

“Together we look forward to bringing together our networks and building a better experience for our customers,” Mr Galardo said.

Flydubai, which commenced operations in 2009, continues to expand its partnerships as it embarks on the next phase of its expansion.

At the Arabian Travel Market conference in Dubai earlier this month, the Dubai-based airline's chief executive Ghaith Al Ghaith said the airline is in talks with Boeing and Airbus for a new aircraft order to fulfil its fleet requirements for operational growth.

The all-Boeing fleet operator is considering the Boeing 737 Max and Airbus A320 Neo models, Mr Al Ghaith said at the time. He did not disclose the size of the order, but said flydubai may sign an agreement by the end of this year.

In January, Montreal-based Air Canada's cargo division signed a preliminary agreement with Dubai's Emirates SkyCargo to work on initiatives that will expand their capacity on a larger combined network, building on a codeshare deal between the airlines sealed last year.

Under the terms of the pact, the companies are to expand freight interline options, offering their customers access to more capacity, Emirates said.