Aer Lingus and United Airlines (UAL) have announced an extension of their code-sharing relationship on select long haul services between Europe and North America. The two said the new partnership will capitalise on the growth opportunities presented by the Open Skies agreement between the European Union (EU) and the United States (US) by opening new transatlantic non-stop services. The partners will launch service between Washington Dulles and Madrid, with daily operations from March 2010. It is intended that both carriers will equally share the commercial and operating benefits and risk, with Aer Lingus managing the operational aspects of the new partnership services and United Airlines taking responsibility for managing revenue generation. The Partnership route structure will be operated and sold under both Aer Lingus and United Airlines codes and will leverage both parties¡¯ network capabilities.