Etihad unveils major Indian expansion
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Etihad Airways has unveiled a major expansion of its services in India, following its recent investment in Mumbai-based Jet Airways.
The UAE national carrier will increase flight frequency and seat capacity on several routes between Abu Dhabi and several key Indian cities, including Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. The first increases will commence from November this year, with a second round of growth expected in 2014.
“India is one of the world’s fastest-growing destinations, and a key market in the growth strategy of Etihad Airways,” said James Hogan, Etihad’s president & CEO.
“Following the recent signing of a new air services agreement between India and the UAE, we now have the opportunity to add significant capacity between the two countries, not only meeting existing demand for trade and tourist travel but also ensuring that we can meet the continued strong growth which is expected between our two countries. The big winners will be our passengers and freight customers and the economies of India and Abu Dhabi.”
From 1 November 2013, Etihad plans to more than triple the number of seats it now offers on the Abu Dhabi–Mumbai and Abu Dhabi–Delhi routes. The frequency of flights on both these routes will double from one to two flights per day, while the Mumbai route will be upgraded to a wide-body Airbus A340-600 aircraft and the Delhi service will use an Airbus A330-200.
Meanwhile the daily Abu Dhabi–Chennai service will be upgraded from an A320 to an A321 aircraft, adding 38 more seats per sector.
It also plans to codeshare on a range of Jet’s domestic flights, details of which will be announced in due course. Etihad has agreed to purchase a 24% stake in Jet for US$379 million, marking the first investment in an Indian airline by an international carrier.
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