Emirates and ITA Airways have inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to expand their existing interline into a full codeshare partnership. This significant move will enhance travel options and connection choices for customers traveling between Dubai, Italy, and beyond. The MoU was signed on March 6, 2024, in Berlin, Germany. It lays the groundwork to strengthen the partnership between both airlines, creating one-stop connections to popular cities across Italy and wider Europe with ITA Airways¹. It also opens up simpler and faster journeys to the Emirates network from Dubai with the best routes, schedules, and connections.
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Adnan Kazim, Deputy President and Chief Commercial Officer, of Emirates Airline, expressed his enthusiasm about the partnership. He stated that enhancing partnerships and boosting presence in key regions such as Europe is an integral part of the Emirates' commercial strategy. This move underscores their commitment to providing customers flexibility through their partners’ complementary networks. Antonino Turicchi, Chairman of ITA Airways, also shared his excitement about the codeshare partnership with Emirates. He mentioned that this MoU enhances ITA Airways’ commercial strategy of growth and opens up a privileged access route to all passengers who will benefit from the connectivity via Rome Fiumicino and Dubai.
Under the planned codeshare, Emirates’ customers will be able to smoothly travel to several domestic cities in Italy from the airline’s gateway in Rome. This includes popular tourist destinations like Florence, Genoa, Palermo, and Trieste, among others. Customers will also be able to connect to cities across Europe including Tirana, Sofia, and other major cities. ITA Airways customers will benefit from significantly enhanced choices by connecting to the Emirates route network from Dubai via the airline’s Rome services. The connectivity provided between Emirates and ITA Airways will eventually offer combined ticketing and seamless baggage transfers.
The planned agreement will also support inbound visitation to Italian points from regions across the Emirates network, including Australia, the Far East, the Middle East/GCC, and West Asia. The MoU also seeks to establish extending reciprocal loyalty benefits on both airlines’ frequent flyer programs at a later stage. Once the necessary government and regulatory approvals are obtained, the codeshare flights will progressively be made available to customers across online and travel agency platforms.