Lufthansa plans to seek regulatory approval to form a “code-share” agreement with JetBlue Airways, marking the German airline’s latest effort to forge closer ties to the US carrier and its coveted New York hub.

Code-shares, so called for the two-letter codes used to identify the airline operating a given flight, emerged in the 1980s to help ease passenger concerns that switching carriers during a transcontinental journey would inevitably lead to missed connections and lost luggage.