Emirates airline doubles number of cities beyond its network with 162 partners

Passengers can now reach about 1,700 additional cities

Emirates' partnership with Qantas provides access to more than 85 Australian cities. Reuters

Emirates airline has doubled the number of cities it offers beyond its network over the past year by forging 162 partnerships in more than 100 countries, giving customers access to travel to about 1,700 additional cities.

This has allowed an average of more than 61,000 passengers to connect on the shared networks of Emirates and its partners every week, the airline said on Friday.

"While organic growth will always at the heart of our plans, we’ll continue to leverage the strength of our partners’ complementary networks as part of our commitment to help our customers reach every corner of the globe in the easiest way possible," said Adnan Kazi, the airline's deputy president and chief commercial officer.

"In the last year, we’ve doubled down on our strategy of deepening our global presence and expanding our footprint across six continents by forging new partnerships with like-minded airlines, rail partners and air mobility operators to provide a huge choice of onwards destinations, connectivity options and seamless ‘last mile’ access for travellers like never before."

The Dubai-based airline currently has 31 codeshare, 118 interline, 13 rail and helicopter service partners.

A codeshare allows an airline to sell tickets on the partner carrier’s flights.

Interline agreements allow passengers from two airlines to buy connecting flights on one ticket. These pacts often pave the way to codeshare agreements.

For airline passengers, such partnerships mean single-ticket itineraries, easier baggage transfers, frequent flyer benefits and airport lounge access.

In the past year, Emirates signed 16 partnerships, which include codeshares with Avianca and Batik Air Malaysia.

The airline also finalised and put into effect interline arrangements with Kam Air, Sri Lankan Airlines, Condor, Flynas, Viva Aerobus, Sun Express, Maldivian, Siberia Airlines and Kenya Airways.

Travel destinations with Emirates' partners

In the Middle East, Emirates and its sister airline flydubai forged a joint co-operation agreement in 2017. This means Emirates customers can fly to more than 90 flydubai destinations and flydubai customers can travel to 100 Emirates destinations.

In the Americas, Emirates' partnerships with United, Air Canada and Qantas provide access to more than 350 destinations across North, Central and South America, Australia and New Zealand.

In Europe, Emirates has seven codeshare, 33 interline and 12 rail and air mobility partnerships including with Condor, ITA Airways, Air Malta, Air Baltic, Aegean Airlines, TAP Portugal and Siberia Airlines.

In Asia, Emirates has 12 codeshare partners and 42 interline partners, reaching more than 500 cities across the Far East, West Asia and the Indian Ocean, as well as the Middle East.

In Australia, Emirates' partnership with Qantas opens up travel to 85 Australian cities, while Qantas passengers can fly Emirates to Dubai and onwards to more than 45 cities in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa – beyond Qantas’s existing international network.

Emirates’ footprint across Africa expands to more than 210 regional points through five codeshare and 18 interline partners.

Emirates partners at a glance:

1. 162 partnerships, of which 31 are codeshare, 118 are interline and 13 are rail and helicopter service partners in 100 countries

2. 61,000 weekly travellers can connect on flights operated by Emirates' partners

3. Connectivity to about 1,700 additional cities

4. The benefits: Access to flexible schedules, single ticket itineraries, baggage transfers, a series of frequent flyer benefits and other perks