Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, continues to make significant operational and financial investments in India, which are bringing tangible benefits to the country’s aviation and tourism sectors as well as the Indian economy in general.

The Abu Dhabi-based airline is supporting this growth through:

·         the investment in Jet Airways which is now on a firm path to recovery;

·         providing consumers with greater choice, convenience, and connectivity;

·         carrying greater numbers of air travellers to and from airports right across India;

·         working with key tourism and commercial bodies to bring air travellers to India;

·         the employment of thousands of Indian nationals

James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ President and Chief Executive Officer, said: “We made a pledge to support the growth of tourism, aviation, and commerce in India by working alongside Jet Airways to bring business and leisure travellers into cities across India, and we are fulfilling that pledge.

“Etihad Airways continues to open-up access to primary and regional airports in India and create new employment opportunities through these operations. With Jet Airways, we’re constantly exploring new opportunities with local tourism bodies and organisations which will continue over time and benefit many.”

Since the launch of the partnership between Etihad Airways and Jet Airways in the summer of 2014, the Indian carrier has embarked upon a path to recovery, which is showing strong operational and financial performance, having recently posted its first profit after seven consecutive quarters of losses.

The benefits of the partnership to Jet Airways include major cost savings and synergies in areas such as fleet acquisition, maintenance, product development and training, and the results are already showing that it is on target to break-even within the next three years.

Etihad Airways is also carrying more air travellers from the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the Americas to cities across India. This is helping drive economic growth throughout the country and not just the major metropolitan areas.

Latest data shows an unprecedented increase in the number of passengers booked from these key overseas markets to its growing Indian network, offering consumers better access, connectivity and choice.

In 2014 nearly one million passengers, who travelled on Etihad Airways’ India flights, began their journey from outside of the country, representing almost 70 per cent of total passengers who flew to and from India with the Abu Dhabi-based airline.

The boost in passengers flying from key network markets to India is set to grow even further during the coming 12 months as Etihad Airways adds more frequencies to its Indian flight network and deploys new widebody aircraft, including the Boeing 787, to destinations in India.

Etihad Airways added a third daily flight from Mumbai to Abu Dhabi and a new daily service from Kolkata to Abu Dhabi on Sunday, 15 February. In addition, a third daily flight will be added from New Delhi to Abu Dhabi on Friday 1 May.

These schedule expansions are complemented by the recently launched Jet Airways daily services from Goa and Lucknow to Abu Dhabi. Jet Airways flights from Ahmedabad, Pune and Mangalore to Abu Dhabi flights are also set to start on Sunday 29 March.

These increases mean that from May 2015, Etihad Airways and Jet Airways will offer a combined schedule of 224 weekly return flights from 15 destinations in India – more than any other individual carrier from the Gulf region.

The combined operation will include five flights a day from Mumbai, four flights a day from Delhi, three flights a day from Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kochi, two flights a day from Ahmedabad and Kozhikode, and daily flights from Jaipur, Kolkata, and Thiruvananthapuram.

Mr Hogan added: “Since the launch of Mumbai, our first Indian destination, in 2004, almost six million guests have travelled on our services to and from India and the launch of new destinations such as Jaipur and Kolkata, as well as the introduction of our new Boeing 787-9, on the Mumbai to Abu Dhabi route, will ensure these figures continue to grow.”

In addition to a network, which supports Indian tourism and commerce, Etihad Airways continues to be a major employer of Indian nationals at locations across India and at bases in Abu Dhabi and around the world.

Currently 2,860 Indian nationals work at the airline representing 16 per cent of the total workforce. This figure includes 200 members of staff in India, 750 cabin crew, 160 pilots and 1,683 core staff at headquarters.