Etihad Airways has said it will appeal a decision by a German court that ruled that the UAE-based airline and Air Berlin cannot continue code-sharing on some of their routes beyond mid-January. Abu Dhabi-based Etihad holds 29.2% of Germany’s second-biggest airline and their code-sharing provides important income for Air Berlin. However, the German government says some of the routes are not covered by an aviation agreement with the United Arab Emirates. The problem involves 31 routes, with more than 50 others unaffected. A code-sharing agreement is an agreement between two or more air carriers, whereby the carrier operating a given flight allows one or more other carriers to market this flight and issue tickets for it as if they were operating the flight themselves. The Emirati airline said in a statement that it was disappointed with the decision, which it says will inconvenience passengers. German authorities in October approved the disputed code-shares through Jan. 15, saying they were giving the companies time to find a solution. Etihad sought a ruling from an administrative court in Braunschweig extending that permission to the end of the winter timetable in late March. However, the court said Wednesday it had rejected the application.
