Switzerland’s Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA) has approved Etihad’s 33.3% investment in the Swiss regional carrier Darwin Airline.
But Etihad president and CEO James Hogan has criticised the regulator over the time taken to make its decision.
He said some opportunities for Etihad Airways and Etihad Regional had been ‘diminished or lost’ because of the length of the regulatory review process, which prevented the introduction of important codeshare services designed to link and strengthen the networks of the two airlines.
"Because of the time taken to approve this partnership, and intense competition during this period, Etihad Regional has been forced to reduce or withdraw services on a number of routes, which were launched on the expectation that they would be supported by traffic flowing between the Etihad Airways global network and the Etihad Regional network in Europe," he said.
Since January, Lugano-based Darwin Airline has operated as Etihad Regional under a brand and partnership agreement with the Abu Dhabi-based airline.
The approval means the two companies can now leverage fully the benefits of their partnership, including codesharing on each other’s flights within and beyond Europe.
Hogan said the investment was in line with the growing trend of consolidation in the airline industry ‘to ensure the continuation of viable, reliable and stable air services, and to maximise flight connectivity’.
