As part of a recovery plan for South African Airways, Johannesburg-bound passengers can now fly on an SAA ticket irrespective of whether some or all flights are operated by SAA or Etihad Airways.

SAA’s inauguration of daily flights to the capital of the United Arab Emirates is significant, according to a report in TourismUpdate. Etihad is working closely with SAA to make Abu Dhabi central to SAA’s future services.

Passengers flying between Abu Dhabi in the U.A.E. and Johannesburg can now stop at 27 new destinations including the following, TourismUpdate reports: UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Maldives, Edinburgh and Manchester in the U.K., Ireland, Indonesia, Bangalore and Mumbai in India, Colombo, Korea, Jordan and Japan.

South African and Etihad airways announced in December they had started phase 2 of strategic cooperation for increased flights between South Africa and Abu Dhabi, according to ENCA.

“As part of the extended co-operation, South African Airways will launch a daily service between Johannesburg and Abu Dhabi on March 29, 2015, which will complement Etihad Airways’ existing flights between the two cities to offer a combined double-daily frequency on the route,” the report said.

More than 1,000 connections would also be offered each week over Etihad’s Abu Dhabi hub to key markets including the Gulf region, Middle East, Indian subcontinent, and North and South East Asia.

The airlines also announced a codeshare agreement in December to include 49 routes, more than double the previous number.

Etihad Airways said it planned to place its ‘EY’ code on South African Airways’ new Johannesburg-Abu Dhabi flights, in addition to 16 of the airline’s other services from Johannesburg to key destinations across the African continent. In return, South African Airways would place its ‘SA’ code on 32 Etihad Airways routes beyond Abu Dhabi to a range of destinations world-wide, ENCA reported.

Acting SAA CEO Nico Bezuidenhout said the multi-layered partnership was instrumental in allowing SAA to establish new connections between the African continent and other worldwide markets for its passengers.

“Under the second phase of our co-operation, we will better serve established regions such as North America, Europe and Australia, while strengthening our presence in fast-growing markets across the Middle East and Asia,” he said.

Also in December, BusinessDayLive reported Hong Kong, Mumbai and Beijing Routes would either be cancelled or partnerships with other airlines announced by March 24.

Bezuidenhout talked about the new flight destinations with SABC in this video.