Alcazar Air unexpectedly launches codeshare with Etihad Airways

Over the weekend, Mumbai-based Alkasa Airlines quietly launched a surprise initiative. While neither airline has officially announced it, Alcazar Air’s codeshare flights with Etihad have started showing up on Etihad’s booking engine.

Gulf Air’s website lists flights to Abu Dhabi from Ahmedabad and Bengaluru starting in March 2025, showing “operated by Alcazar Air” and an Etihad flight number . Alcazar Air also sells these flights on its website. This will be the first and only codeshare for Akasa Air, which begins operations in August 2022.

This gave Alcazar Air an unprecedented advantage. For example, IndiGo implemented codeshare for the first time in 2019 and began operations in 2006. Go FIRST has never had any such arrangement in its 18 years of existence. SpiceJet did not have a codeshare arrangement with Emirates after it was widely publicized but the arrangement never took off.

What is a code sharing arrangement?

Codeshare is a commercial arrangement between two airlines that helps transport each other’s passengers seamlessly and involves the transfer of baggage and passengers, as well as earning miles where loyalty programs are involved. Carriers that sell trips are called marketing carriers, while carriers that carry passengers are called “operating carriers.”

Etihad Airways is an equity investor in Jet Airways. As part of Jet Airways’ restructuring, the bilateral seat quota has been increased between India and Abu Dhabi, one of the few places that has signed bilateral agreements with specific emirates individually rather than with the country as a whole. Jet Airways’ network restructuring has connected several Indian cities to Abu Dhabi, Etihad Airways has increased the number of flights, and many second-tier cities in India have also been connected to the global network. With the collapse of Jet Airways, Etihad has completely lost this source.

Win-win for both parties

In the bilateral relationship between India and Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi has utilized almost all its rights and has limited space for expansion, while there is still a large gap in the extent of utilization by the Indian side. Due to its late start, Alkasa Air has not been able to grow internationally in the way it desired as other airlines (mainly IndiGo and Air India Group) have acquired the rights to operate, especially to Dubai or Singapore etc. Generous location rights.

The deal allows Alcazar Air to deploy additional capacity in Abu Dhabi, helping to strengthen its international presence, improve utilization and corner rights that remain largely available unlike elsewhere. For Etihad, this means more supply from India, which it currently cannot add more flights on its own, and its ambitions to grow globally means it will need supplies from the most populous country on earth. country’s supply. Ultimately, Etihad could consider letting Alcazar Air solve the problems that Jet Airways can’t.

two-sided game

International flights, except those under open skies, are governed by the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA). These rights can be by seat or frequency or a combination of both.

What remains to be seen is whether Alkasa Air will follow IndiGo’s model and not just fly to a third airline’s hub in a codeshare arrangement, but go beyond that and bring in wet-leased aircraft from those airlines , as is the case now with Turkish Airlines and Qatar Airways and IndIGo. Akasa Air has also been hit by Boeing over missed deliveries and a runaway delivery schedule. Will the airline consider other ways to increase capacity?

endnote

Akasa Air’s entry into the codeshare bandwagon is still early in its life cycle, which shows the airline’s IT readiness from the start. The airline received funding from Late. Jhunjhunwala has posted about the funding several times in the past but formally insisted it was well capitalized. The airline also placed an order for more Boeing MAX aircraft in Hyderabad earlier this year. Code-sharing arrangements and new revenue streams will help boost its valuation, and the partnership with Etihad will be positively received by the market.

Now it needs planes and more to increase flights to Abu Dhabi to take full advantage of the partnership. Will Boeing resume deliveries soon? Although the airline knew about the MAX’s flaws when it signed the contract, things were expected to improve for Boeing. Instead, the plane maker has been hit by strikes, major safety issues with the MAX (the doors flew out and became unusable), and constant news about one quality issue or another, all of which have impacted Akasa Air’s delivery schedule. Will the tide turn now?