India’s private carrier, Jet Airways has launched new international flight services to Abu Dhabi from Pune, Ahmedabad and Mangalore. This is the first time the Indian carrier is offering international services from Ahmedabad and Pune.
Jet Airways will deploy a 178-seater Boeing 737-800 Next Generation (NG) aircraft on the routes. As per a company press release, 12 seats in premiere class and 156 seats in economy class are available for travellers on the routes.
The new flights aim to offer an increased flight connectivity between India and the Gulf and beyond to North America, Europe and Africa, in a strategic partnership with Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways.
Jet Airways’ Chief Executive Cramer Ball had recently made it clear that the airline would see a rise in the number of international routes during the summer schedule.
Jet Airways’ summer schedule starts from March 29 and lasts up to October 28, each year.
Jet Airways Chief Commercial Officer, Raj Shivakumar said: “Abu Dhabi is a renowned international hub and the introduction of three new flights from Pune, Ahmedabad and Mangalore to this airport would open up access to dozens of key destinations around the world.”
“The new services will help ensure Jet Airways is the preferred carrier by air travellers in these cities given our unparalleled domestic network and an ever-expanding international footprint,” he added.
Etihad Airways holds a 24 percent stake in this Indian carrier. The Mumbai-based airline, presently, has daily operations from Delhi, Kochi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Lucknow and Goa to Abu Dhabi. From Mumbai, Jet Airways operates twice daily flights to Abu Dhabi.
Jet Airways is India’s only private airline that has more than 50 daily services to different destinations in the Gulf.
SpiceJet and IndiGo, the two budget carriers of India, also run flights to few airports in the Gulf. The airlines’ Gulf network includes services to Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Dubai, Doha, Kuwait, Sharjah, Muscat, Jeddah, Dammam and Riyadh.