Code Sharing Between Airlines! Reasons & Advantages

Dec. 9, 2010 - PRLog -- A code-share is an arrangement whereby an airline sells seats, under its own name, on another carrier's flight. Under a code sharing agreement, the airline that actually operates the flight (the one providing the plane, the crew and the ground handling services) is called the operating carrier. The company or companies that sell tickets for that flight but do not actually operate it are called marketing carriers or validating carriers. Major airlines in Africa like Kenya airways, South African Airways, Lufthansa, KLM, Air France and Ethiopian Airways share their codes with one another to provide a network of connectivity and convenience for international passengers and international packages.
Reasons and Benefits:
Under a code sharing agreement, participating airlines can present a common flight number for several reasons, including:
For passengers

Connecting flights; this provides clearer routing for the customer, allowing a customer to book travel from point A to C through point B under one carrier's code, instead of a customer booking from point A to B under one code, and from point B to C under another code. This is not only a superficial addition as cooperating airlines also strive to synchronize their schedules and coordinate luggage handling, which makes transfers between connecting flights less time-consuming.
Shared responsibility between the carriers; when flying between two cities without a single-airline connection, the passenger can pick a code shared flight over two airlines or two flights booked separately. If the flights are not code shared, then the second airline has no responsibility if the passenger or luggage misses the second flight due to a delay with the first. Under a code shared flight, the second airline is unlikely to charge extra fees or deny boarding should the first, cooperating airline cause a delay.

For airlines

Flights from both airlines that fly the same route; this provides an apparent increase in the frequency of service on the route by one airline
Perceived service to unserve markets; this provides a method for carriers who do not operate their own aircraft on a given route to gain exposure in the market through display of their flight numbers.
When an airline sacrifices its capacity to other airlines as a code share partner, its operational cost will generally be reduced to nil.

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