Signing a cooperation agreement, Lufthansa and Ethiopian Airlines together launched new routes to connect Frankfurt and the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on 4th April 2008. Remarkably, on either of these flights operated in these routes, customers of both these airlines can enjoy a wide choice of about seven flights per week. 

Available for bookings now, the unique advantages of code share flights are more flexibility and an enhanced choice of connections. Under the new launch, Airbus A300-600 of Lufthansa will operate between Frankfurt and Addis Ababa four times a week. There will be a stop over in Khartoum. On the other hand, Boeing 767 of the Ethiopian Airlines will offer thrice-weekly services on this route.

The codeshare agreement between the two airlines will also be extended to several other services connecting Frankfurt and destinations in the US and Europe, in addition to services between Addis Ababa and destinations in Eastern and Central Africa.

Wolfgang Mayrhuber, Lufthansa chairman and CEO observed, "This codesharing agreement will benefit the customers of both airlines. It will boost Lufthansa's flight offering in Africa and also give passengers from Ethiopia access to our global route network via our Frankfurt hub."

Ato Girma Wake, Chief Executive Officer of Ethiopian Airlines remarked, "The codeshare flights between Addis Ababa and Frankfurt mark the beginning of a stronger cooperation to come as both airlines are planning to cover other markets in the future."

Most notably, both these airlines have linked their frequent flyer programme since October 2007.