ITA Airways is working to establish a codeshare relationship with United Airlines, following last month’s announcement of a similar pact with Air Canada. 

The Italian carrier is deepening ties with Star Alliance carriers as it looks to become that alliance’s newest member early next year. 

An 5 August filing with the US Department of Transportation shows that ITA and United have been granted authority to display one another’s designator codes on their own flights, with ITA seeking to display United’s code on flights “between any point in the [European Union], including Italy, and any point in the United States”.

United has been approved for similar authority, effective 5 August. 

ITA and Air Canada agreed to a codeshare deal in July, and are planning to grow the partnership to include reciprocal earnings and redemption programmes. 

Mark Galardo, Air Canada’s chief commercial officer, said that the partnership allows Air Canada passengers travelling to Rome to “book and seamlessly connect to 10 popular destinations across Italy, Africa, Israel and Albania”. 

”Likewise, ITA Airways customers arriving in Toronto will benefit from access to 10 key Canadian and US cities across our network,” he said. 

Work is underway to bring ITA into Star Alliance as part of its strategic integration into Lufthansa Group.