The catering deal is for four years and will see LSG provide catering services at 16 cities outside of Etihad's hub at Abu Dhabi, the CEOs of the two carriers said.

The two have also signed a memorandum of understanding for Lufthansa Technik to explore opportunities for maintenance at Etihad and the airlines in which it holds equity stakes.

The move follows a code share deal signed by the two last year and the airlines said on Wednesday they were still working on further ways to cooperate.

"We met this morning to discuss further ways in which we can develop and strengthen partnership over time," Etihad Aviation Group CEO James Hogan told a press conference.

(Reporting by Stanley Cravalho and Alexander Cornwell; Writing by Victoria Bryan; Editing by Christoph Steitz)