Etihad Airways to touch Jaipur, other cities

Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, plans to launch services between Abu Dhabi and Jaipur from Winter 2008.

Currently, Etihad offers flights to 45 destinations in West Asia, Europe, North America, Africa and Asia and is all set to boost its flying programme in India with the addition of four new major cities "" Chennai, Jaipur, Kolkata and Kozhikode "" to its expanding global network.

The decision follows successful bilateral talks this week between the governments of the UAE and India, aimed at further liberalising flying links between the two countries.

James Hogan, Etihad's chief executive, said: "Etihad is always keen to build up its Indian services. We are thrilled to have been given the rights to serve four new cities in this exciting market.

"I would like to pay tribute to both the UAE and Indian governments, particularly the department of transport of Abu Dhabi, for their enlightened vision in further opening up air links between these two great nations and allowing Etihad to expand its services to these developing cities in India," he added.

An Etihad spokesperson added, "Jaipur is a strategic location that is well connected to other cities in northern India. We hope to boost passenger traffic from Rajasthan to West Asia and beyond with this initiative.

"Jaipur also has a large business community of Gem exporters as well as other industries. We are hoping to tap into the leisure and business travelers with our new service to and from Jaipur and our other cities."

James Hogan was in New Delhi in September last year for a meeting with Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel and senior government officials to press the carrier's case for additional flights between India's emerging cities and the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

At present, Etihad operates daily flights from Abu Dhabi to Mumbai, New Delhi, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram. Etihad had set its sight on eight Indian cities for new air services from its base in Abu Dhabi with traffic rights to Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bangalore and Hyderabad still to be gained.

Etihad will continue to press for more access to the Indian market at the next round of inter-governmental bi-lateral talks between the UAE and India.