A German appeals court on Thursday reversed a lower court’s decision to block Etihad Airways and Air Berlin from code sharing on 26 international routes through the end of the IATA winter schedule. However, the court did uphold the earlier ruling on five of the 31 routes under dispute because the bilateral traffic agreement between the United Arab Emirates and Germany does not cover domestic services.  

“We are pleased with the ruling, which confirms 94 percent of Etihad Airways’ codeshares,” said Etihad CEO James Hogan. “This ruling is a victory for consumers and competition in Germany...We remain strongly committed to our strategic partner, Air Berlin, and will redouble our efforts to provide a strong competitive alternative to the dominant German carrier, Lufthansa.”

On December 31 the lower court upheld a government decision to withdraw code share rights between Eithad Airways and Air Berlin on 31 flights until March 26, drawing a sharp rebuke from the Persian Gulf airline and an appeal of the decision. Etihad holds a 29.2 percent stake in Air Berlin.

In October Etihad won an injunction allowing it to continue operating all its code-share flights with Air Berlin to the destinations in question to Europe, the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates. At the time, Germany’s Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure had still not approved Etihad’s code-sharing agreements for services during the IATA winter 2015/2016 schedule, which began October 25.

Although the injunction lasted until only November 8, the German government said the two carriers could continue their cooperation until January 15, giving it another 11 weeks to resolve differences with the UAE over what Etihad characterized as a unilateral change of opinion in 2014 by Germany’s Ministry of Transport concerning the code-share provisions of their bilateral air services agreement.

Since 2012, Germany’s civil aviation authority, the LBA, and the Ministry of Transport have approved seven Etihad Airways schedules, including all of its code shares with Air Berlin, on the basis of the Air Services Agreement signed by the UAE and Germany in March 1994 and the Agreed Minutes and Revised Route Schedule signed in June 2000, said the airline. Last year, however, the German government decided the bilateral agreement between the UAE and Germany did not cover Air Berlin’s code-share flights with Etihad.