Etihad Air to start direct services to south India

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, is planning to start direct services from Abu Dhabi to south Indian destinations by the end of this year.

The cities in focus include Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai.

Etihad Airways operates 10 flights from India to Abu Dhabi- 7 flights from Mumbai and 3 from Delhi each week.

"Our next focus will be south Indian destinations. We are in talks with the Indian government for securing flying rights. We are also planning to enhance the existing flight schedule in India," said Charles Phelps-Penry, regional general manager (Asia Pacific), Etihad Airways.

Charles added Etihad Airways has plans to double the flights from Mumbai and launch daily service to Delhi. The airline is also in the process of finalising a new tourism initiative to attract Indian travellers to Abu Dhabi.

"Etihad is also exploring the options to induct Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft in Mumbai-Abu Dhabi route. The decision on this and fleet augmentation will be finalised soon," he said.

He added the airline has teamed up with almost all Indian carriers such as Air-India, Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines and Air Sahara for interlining arrangements.

Etihad Airways has over the last fix months expanded its international network to number of destinations including Brussels, Toronto, Johannesburg, Manila, Manchester and Muscat. At present, the airline flies to 25 destinations in the Middle East, Europe, North America Africa and Asia.

Ethihad has placed orders worth $8 billion for new aircraft within the first two years of operation. Apart from purchasing 5 Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft, the airlines had also ordered 24 Airbus aircraft-four A340-500s, four A340-600s, 12 A330-200s and four double-decker A380s.