Emirates and United Airlines have asked the US Department of Transportation (DoT) for permission to codeshare 300 flights. The request was made in a joint application on January 5th, following the announcement of the two airlines’ comprehensive alliance on September 14th. The Emirates/United codeshare deal includes 300 routes.

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Emirates President and CEO Sir Tim Clark and United CEO Scott Kirby said back in September that their customers would be allowed to connect on United’s network starting in November, but the codeshare won’t go into action unless the DoT gives its clearance. Emirates and United requested that the Department speed up the approval of this application because they wanted to start advertising their codeshare service as soon as feasible.

In the application, it is stated that: “Granting this application is in the public interest since it will significantly improve the service options available to the US travelling public for travel between the US, UAE, and other destinations. By providing convenient extra online services, United will be able to increase competitiveness and the range of travel alternatives accessible to customers between the United States and locations in the United Arab Emirates and beyond. Additionally, in recognition of the significant public benefits created, the Department has given comparable authority to a number of codeshare agreements involving US and foreign carriers.

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In order to facilitate international air travel between these locations and the UAE and other locations, Emirates plans to use the codeshare agreement to place its “EK” code on

a) United and United Express flights operating from specific United US hubs to points in the US and points beyond the US across North, Central, South America, and the Caribbean.

b) on United flights that are run from intermediate locations to the US in order to facilitate international air travel from the United Arab Emirates to the US and other destinations.

This codeshare includes 126 flights from Chicago, 105 flights from Houston, and 41 flights from San Francisco. Although there is no restriction on the destinations, phase 1 is the only one that includes them. The parties agree to give future non-open skies points 30 days’ notice before engaging in any additional codesharing.

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