Etihad plans expansion of India flights in early 2015

Both cities will be upgraded from their current double-daily frequencies, with the third daily flight to Mumbai starting on February 15 2015 and to New Delhi on May 1 2015, the airline said in a statement.

Along with equity partner Jet Airways’ services, both airlines will connect Abu Dhabi to 14 Indian cities, with over 200 return flights each week.

This includes five flights a day to Mumbai, four flights a day to New Delhi, three flights a day to Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kochi, two flights a day to Ahmedabad and Kozhikode, and daily flights to Jaipurand Trivandrum.

Etihad Airways said it will also launch a daily service to Kolkata, capital of West Bengal, on February 15 2015 to support its long-term development plan in India, while Jet Airways has announced it will soon launch daily services between Abu Dhabi and Goa, Lucknow and Pune.

Etihad has also announced that it is upgrading its aircraft on a number of Indian routes, including the debut of its new Boeing 787-9 on Mumbai evening services in January 2015.

James Hogan, president and CEO of Etihad Airways, 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.”

He said more than 620,000 passengers flew on Etihad’s India services in the first half of 2014, an increase of 51 percent year-on-year.

“Our relationship with Jet Airways will also continue to play an important role. Both airlines’ depth and breadth in India is stronger than any of our regional competitors and there are significant opportunities to increase our frequencies on existing routes, and introduce more Indian destinations into our network, which will set us even further apart from other airlines.”