ABU DHABI, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- National airlines of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Morocco have agreed on code share to gain better access to destinations in West Africa, UAE newspaper Khaleej Times reported on Tuesday.

    Under an agreement signed between UAE's Etihad Airways and Morocco's Royal Air Maroc, Etihad's customers can travel seamlessly from Abu Dhabi to Casablanca and then connect on to West African destinations including Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire, Maliand Mauritania.

    In the meantime, travelers in Morocco and West Africa, who have booked their initial flight with Royal Air Maroc, will also be able to access Etihad's network of destinations.

    "Etihad strives to make as many global destinations available to our customers whether it is opening up new routes of our own or through strategic agreements with other airlines," the airline's CEO James Hogan said.

    Established in July 2003, Etihad launched its first flight on Nov. 6, 2003. It owns a fleet of 27 aircraft which operates services to 45 global destinations.

    The airline currently has two other codeshare agreements with the Belgium-based SN Brussels Airlines and British Midland Airways(BMI).