Etihad to up frequencies to India

Etihad Airways will add a third daily service to both Mumbai and New Delhi starting from February 15 and May 1 respectively next year.

James Hogan, president and chief executive of the carrier said: “India is expected to become the world’s third largest air passenger market within the next 20 years, and we are focused on providing travellers with the best possible offering into and out of the country, in terms of world-class service, extensive network coverage and multiple flight options each day.

“More than 620,000 passengers in the first half of this year have flown on our India services, a substantial increase of 51 percent year-on-year. The launch of the triple-daily service to the cities will allow us to meet growing market demand.”

Both additional services will be operated by A320s in two classes – 16 business in 2-2 configurations and 120 economy seats arranged in a 3-3 setup.

Schedules are as follows:

Abu Dhabi – Mumbai route

*The airline will operate its new B787-9 on Mumbai’s evening services in January next year (see here).

Abu Dhabi – New Delhi route

The Gulf carrier has already doubled its services to a number of India cities in July this year, including Kochi, Bangalore, Chennai, Kozhikode and Hyderabad (see story here).

For more information, visit etihad.com

Valerian Ho