On Thursday, the flag carrier of the State of Qatar, Qatar Airways announced their plans to further strengthen its strategic partnership with the flag carrier of Spain, Iberia, via codeshare expansion. Presently, Qatar Airways also owns 25.1% of Iberia’s owner, the International Airlines Group. This move comes as Qatar Airways is working to strengthen passengers’ travel options to South America through numerous partnerships.
For those unfamiliar with the concept, codeshares are a great tool for both airlines and passengers as it allows airlines to access an additional demographic of travelers who may not otherwise choose to fly with them. This opens a more diverse network of destinations that can be reached on a single flight booking, even if the booking airline does not even fly there.
As part of the new deal announced today, Qatar Airways’ passengers will benefit from an expanded route network featuring 40 more connections via Iberia codeshare flights. These will be focused on short-haul links to the Iberian Peninsula, in addition to long-haul transatlantic hops to Latin America. Moreover, passengers will not have to wait to make use of the expanded codeshare agreement as Qatar Airways revealed tickets have already gone on sale.
On the other hand, Iberia’s passengers will also benefit quite significantly. In total, they will get access to 36 new routes on the Qatar Airways network, including connections to Angola, Australia, Mozambique, and South Africa.