Etihad Airways and TAROM, the national airline of Romania, have signed a codeshare agreement giving travellers single-ticket access to 11 destinations across Romania and Eastern Europe, with connections through Abu Dhabi to Etihad’s worldwide network.
The agreement, signed at the IATA Annual General Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, supports the launch of Etihad’s new Abu Dhabi–Bucharest service on 17 December 2026. Once the route begins, passengers can check bags through to their final destination on a single booking.
Under the partnership, Etihad guests can connect from Bucharest onto TAROM flights serving six Romanian cities: Baia Mare, Cluj-Napoca, Iasi, Oradea, Suceava and Timisoara. The codeshare also reaches four Eastern European capitals: Belgrade, Budapest, Chisinau and Sofia.
Travellers from Romania gain a new direct link to Abu Dhabi, from where Etihad operates onward services to destinations across the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australia.
“TAROM gives Etihad real depth in Eastern Europe: a flag carrier shaped by more than seven decades of European aviation, and an established network reaching across the country and the wider region,” said Arik De, Chief Revenue and Commercial Officer, Etihad Airways. “Launching this codeshare ahead of our own Bucharest service means we enter a fast-growing market with genuine scale from day one.”
“This codeshare with Etihad Airways extends TAROM’s international reach and gives passengers a new connection between Bucharest and Abu Dhabi,” said Mircea Nicolae Cotoros, Chief Commercial Officer, TAROM. “It strengthens the link between Romania and the Middle East, supports the continued growth of our network and fostering cultural and economic exchanges.”
Romania has emerged as one of Eastern Europe’s fastest-growing economies and an increasingly popular travel destination, attracting visitors to the medieval towns of Transylvania, the Carpathian Mountains and the Danube Delta. The new agreement gives Etihad’s global passengers a single-connection route into Bucharest and the broader region for the first time.
For Romanian travellers, the codeshare opens a connection to Abu Dhabi, home to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, the museums of the Saadiyat Cultural District and the resorts of the Arabian Gulf coast.
The addition of TAROM brings Etihad’s codeshare partner count to 47, with more than 130 interline partners in total. The airline describes this as the largest partner network of any non-alliance carrier, providing single-ticket access to more than 350 destinations worldwide.
TAROM, founded more than seven decades ago, operates as Romania’s flag carrier and maintains an established domestic and regional network that the codeshare now connects to Etihad’s long-haul operations for the first time.
The Abu Dhabi–Bucharest route launches on 17 December 2026, with the full codeshare network available for booking on a single ticket from the same date.
