(MENAFN) Abu Dhabi carrier Etihad Airways announced that it is launching triple daily services to the Indian cities of Mumbai and New Delhi due to an increase in demand for both services, with both cities getting an upgrade to 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, Gulf Business reported.
Etihad said that the move will provide business and leisure travelers with more options between the UAE and India, especially after the increase in the number of travelers on the route, with more than 620.000 passengers flying on the carrier's service during the first half of the year, which is an increase by 51 percent compared to the same period last year.
Etihad which, acquired a minority stake in Jet Airways for USD379 million last year, making it the first foreign investment following the opening up of India's aviation sector, expects that this relationship with the Indian carrier will play an important role in increasing their frequencies on existing routes, and introduce more Indian destinations into Etihad's network by connecting Abu Dhabi to 14 Indian cities, with over 200 return flights each week by using both airlines' services.
These services 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 Jaipur and Trivandrum, as well as plans by Etihad to launch a daily service to Kolkata on February 15 and Jet announcing that it plans to soon launch daily services between Abu Dhabi and Goa, Lucknow and Pune.
"India is expected to become the world's third largest air passenger market within the next 20 years, and we are focused on providing travelers with the best possible offering into and out of the country," President and CEO of Etihad said.
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