JetBlue and El Al Israel Airlines plan to expand their partnership, allowing El Al to sell seats on some JetBlue flights to and from the New York area.
The companies said that they had filed a request with the U.S. Department of Transportation for so-called code-sharing and are awaiting government approval.
Currently EL AL offers 22 weekly nonstop flights from Tel Aviv to New York. Having stopped in JFK or Newark, customers may connect with 35 JetBlue destinations, including Boston, Chicago/O’Hare, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood, Houston/Hobby, Las Vegas, Orlando, San Francisco, San Juan, Washington/Dulles and West Palm Beach. JetBlue currently serves 86 cities across the United States, Caribbean, and Latin America.
A code-share agreement is an aviation business arrangement where two or more airlines share the same flight, so that each airline publishes and markets the flight under its own airline designator and flight number as part of its published schedule. A seat can be purchased on each airline’s designator and flight number, but is actually operated by only one of these cooperating airlines. Many major airlines today have code sharing partnerships.
David Maimon, President and CEO of EL AL, said, "We are proud to expand our cooperation with JetBlue, which is such a successful and highly reputable airline. The agreement between EL AL and JetBlue is a partnership that offers passengers more convenient options between Israel and North America. This improved agreement highlights the EL AL strategy to operate a global airline in an effort to advance tourism between Israel and the U.S.A."
"We are delighted to move toward closer cooperation with EL AL, an important partner of JetBlue's for many years, and make it even easier for customers to book travel with our airlines," said Robin Hayes, JetBlue's president.
EL AL and JetBlue have been interline partners since 2010, allowing customers to purchase single-ticket itineraries, combining travel on both airlines. EL AL and JetBlue have been interline partners since 2010, allowing customers to purchase single-ticket itineraries, combining travel on both airlines.
