American Airlines (AA, Dallas/Fort Worth) and Qatar Airways (QR, Doha Hamad International) have signed a strategic partnership deal that will increase commercial cooperation, improve connectivity and create new travel options for passengers. At the same time, the two airlines have renewed their codeshare agreement which will allow American to explore the addition of service from the US to Doha Hamad International.

Pending government approvals, American said in a statement that it will place its code on select Qatar Airways nonstop and connecting services to and from the US and the Middle Eastern carrier’s hub in Doha, allowing American’s customers to access new destinations in the Middle East, East Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia that are not currently served by the US airline. Qatar Airways will place its code on select flights beyond American’s hubs at Dallas/Fort Worth, Chicago O'Hare, New York JFK, Philadelphia International, Miami International and Los Angeles International, as well as on American’s international flights to and from Europe, the Caribbean, Central America and South America.

According to the ch-aviation schedules module, American currently offers no direct services to any destination in the Middle East. Its services to Asia are limited to Dallas/Fort Worth to Beijing Capital, Hong Kong International, Seoul Incheon, Shanghai Pudong, Tokyo Haneda, and Tokyo Narita, as well as Los Angeles to Beijing, Hong Kong, Haneda and Shanghai. By contrast, Qatar Airways flies from its Doha hub to Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson, Boston, Chicago O’Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston Intercontinental, Los Angeles, Miami, JFK, Philadelphia, and Washington Dulles in the US.

“Our goal is to continue to expand and deepen our global partnerships to complement American’s network and create more choice for our customers,” said American’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Doug Parker on the agreement.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker added: “We are very pleased to secure this strategic partnership with American Airlines — an agreement between two successful and ambitious airlines with a shared common purpose to enhance the customer experience. The deal will bring together two of the world’s largest airline networks, increasing choices for millions of passengers and providing seamless connectivity to a significant number of new destinations, in line with Qatar Airways’ successful growth strategy.”

In their respective statements on the cooperation, both airlines were keen to bury past disagreements regarding alleged state subsidies given to major Gulf-based carriers.

“The issues that led to the suspension of our partnership two years ago have been addressed, and we believe resuming our codeshare agreement will allow us to provide service to markets that our customers, team members and shareholders value, including new growth opportunities for American Airlines,” said Parker. “We have moved on from past issues and look forward to working closely with American Airlines to build a world-leading partnership for all our customers,” al Baker added.

The agreement with Qatar Airways marks a busy period for the US carrier, which recently boosted its links with Alaska Airlines (AS, Seattle Tacoma International) and Brazil’s GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes (G3, São Paulo Congonhas).

In the same period, the Middle Eastern carrier has walked away from its investment in the semi-defunct Air Italy (Milan Malpensa), signed a comprehensive codeshare agreement with Air Malta (KM, Malta International), and bumped up its stake in IAG International Airlines Group from 21.4% to 25.1%.