A range of expanded services to India are being scheduled by Etihad Airways this summer following a tie-up with local carrier Jet Airways.
The UAE carrier is upgrading services to Kochi, Bangalore, Chennai, Kozhikode and Hyderabad from Abu Dhabi this summer.
A double-daily frequency will operate to Bangalore, Chennai and Kozhikode from today (July 1), and Hyderabad from October 1.
Passengers now have the option of daytime or overnight flights, and improved connections between India and key markets in the Gulf region, Middle East, Africa, Europe and North America.
Double-daily frequencies were introduced to Kochi last month, as well as Mumbai and New Delhi in November, supporting a long-term development plan in India.
The airline will deploy new Airbus A320s, scheduled for delivery this year, to accommodate much of the increased frequencies.
Larger wide-body aircraft were also introduced on selected routes last autumn, with a three-class A340 on overnight Mumbai flights, marking the debut of Etihad Airways’ first class on the route, and A330s on overnight Delhi flights.
Kochi flights have been upgraded with the recent introduction of new Airbus A321s, while overnight Delhi flights will be further enhanced with three-class Boeing 777s from July 15.
In addition to the seven existing or planned double-daily services, Etihad flies daily to Ahmedabad, Trivandrum and Jaipur.
The new services follow an expansion of the airline’s codeshare agreement with Jet Airways, after the two airlines obtained regulatory approval to codeshare on 43 additional routes, bringing the total number of services under the arrangement up to 71.
As part of the expansion, Etihad Airways has placed its ‘EY’ code on domestic services in India for the first time, with the codeshare agreement now including 31 Jet Airways routes from hubs in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore to regional centres in Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Goa, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mangalore, Patna, Trivandrum and Vadodara.
Also included are Jet Airways flights between Abu Dhabi and Bangalore, Chennai, Cochin, Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad, and Etihad flights between Abu Dhabi and Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kozhikode, Mumbai, New Delhi and Trivandrum.
Etihad president and chief executive James Hogan said: “As one of the largest, fastest-growing and most exciting travel markets in the world, India continues to play an important role in our growth plans. Last year alone, more than 885,000 people flew on our Indian services, a substantial increase of 20% on the previous year.
“Subject to regulatory approvals, we will continue to expand our India operations and work with Jet Airways to accommodate strong growth and deliver much greater choice for travel to and from India.”
He added: “This codeshare expansion was a milestone development for both airlines. In addition to placing our ‘EY’ code on domestic flights within India for the first time, the agreement now incorporates more services between Abu Dhabi and India than ever before, benefitting travellers with enhanced network reach, more frequent services, and increased convenience.”