airberlin and Alitalia sign codeshare agreement, airberlin to transfer Milan operations to Linate
airberlin and Alitalia signed (14-Oct-2014) a codeshare agreement, with the carriers to share codes on all of their combined 412 weekly frequencies between Italy and Germany, Austria and Switzerland from the winter 2014/2015 season. airberlin and Alitalia will also share codes on select routes beyond their hubs from 26-Oct-2014, including airberlin domestic services from Munich, domestic and international Alitalia services from Milan Linate and Rome, and select Alitalia long-haul services to South America. Codesharing on Alitalia's long-haul connections will commence after regulatory approval. In addition, airberlin's thrice daily Dusseldorf-Milan Malpensa and twice daily Berlin Tegel-Milan Malpensa services will transfer to Milan Linate from 26-Oct-2014, as well as NIKI's thrice daily Vienna-Milan Malpensa service - see Route Changes Table for more information. The carriers also signed a frequent flyer agreement, allowing members to earn and redeem miles on each other's network from 01-Nov-2014. airberlin CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schauer said: "The codeshare agreement with Alitalia raises the importance of Italy for airberlin to a new level. We are optimising our service for both business and holiday travellers by operating our flights to Linate, the most convenient airport to Italy's number one business and fashion destination Milan. Together with Alitalia, we are going to offer the most extensive nonstop route network between top destinations in Italy and Germany." Alitalia CEO Gabriele Del Torchio added: "We are very pleased to sign with airberlin this agreement that will allow Alitalia to offer its guest more direct frequencies between Italy and Germany and an extensive flight schedule, optimal for business daily round trips. This agreement strengthens Alitalia's role in the development of traffic flows between the two countries. Alitalia continues its strategy of developing commercial agreements with major international companies, with the aim of offering an increasingly larger number of destinations, routes and frequencies to its customers." [more - original PR - airberlin - English/German] [more - original PR - Alitalia - English/Italian]