Private sector carrier Jet Airways today said it has entered into an agreement with the US-based United Airlines for codeshare and frequent flier programme benefits for their customers.

The carriers today filed the codeshare agreement with the US Department of Transportation, and, pending government approval, it is expected to begin around 1st November, the company said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Under the codeshare agreement, one carrier markets services and places its code on another carrier's flight. This facilitates airlines to provide services to destinations not in their route structure.

As per the agreement, Jet Airways' customers would be able to travel from London to the five hubs of United Airlines such as Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington and vice-versa on the codeshare flights. United customers will have service to 13 cities in India, including Bangalore, Kolkata, Mumbai, and New Delhi.

In addition from these five hubs, Jet Airways' customers can fly on codeshare flights to more than 20 cities across the United States. Also, Jet Airways' JetPrivilege and United's Mileage Plus(R) privilege members would also be entitled to accrue and redeem frequent flier miles on most flights.

"Whether our customers are traveling east or west, our new partnership with Jet Airways will provide 18 more flight options that will make international travel more convenient," says Michael Whitaker, United's senior vice president - Alliances, International and Regulatory Affairs. "Our business travelers will particularly enjoy service to one of the fastest growing regions and business markets in the world."

In an unrelated development, Jet Airways India Ltd has announced the appointment of Captain Declan Connolly as vice president, flight operations with effect from 23 April 2008. (See: Jet Airways appoints Capt Declan Connolly as VP, flight operations)

United Airlines, a major airline in the US, is a subsidiary of UAL Corporation with corporate offices in Chicago. United's largest hub is O'Hare International Airport, where it has 650 daily departures. United also has hubs in Denver, Washington, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

United is the world's second largest airline by revenue-passenger-miles (behind American Airlines), third largest by total operating revenues (behind Air France-KLM and American Airlines), and fourth largest by total passengers transported (behind American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines). United has 56,000 employees and operates 460 aircraft.

Jet Airways, based in India, operates over 380 daily flights to 63 destinations. Its main base is Mumbai with other major hubs at New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Brussels. According to March 2008 available figures, its share of India's domestic aviation market is 29.8 per cent, which includes its low cost subsidiary Jetlite's share of 7.1 per cent This has reduced from 31.3 per cent in the year ago period.