Etihad Airways is expanding in India, adding more cities, increasing capacity on certain routes and extending codeshare agreements with local carriers.
It intends to add Amritsar, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Jaipur to its present network of eight destinations. Currently, the carrier operates 49 flights per week to New Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram, Hyderabad, Kochi and Bangalore, a newly launched route (see story here).
The carrier also plans to increase capacities to two major hubs, Mumbai and Delhi. A spokesperson said: “India, a fast growing market, is very important for us. We are also thinking of reallocating some of the existing seats to the Mumbai and Delhi [routes] to scale up frequencies from the two cities.”
Etihad also filed a request with the authorities on February 4, 2011, to extend codeshare agreements with Jet Airways. Said James Hogan, Etihad Airways chief executive: “We are looking at a domestic codesharing agreement on more routes with Jet Airways to help passengers travel seamlessly.”
For more information, visit www.etihadairways.com
Alisha Haridasani