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Abu Dhabi: The negotiations between Dubai and India to increase the number of airline passengers between the two will be finalised this month, according to Indian carrier Jet Airways.
Jet will launch two direct daily flights from Abu Dhabi to Mumbai and Delhi on April 23, and is waiting for the negotiations to conclude for launching routes from Dubai as well.
"We have excellent relationships with the government and the carriers here, and we are already discussing a code-sharing agreement with Etihad Airways which we expect to sign soon. We are awaiting the Indian regulator's approval for the Dubai route," Abraham Joseph, the carrier's senior manager for Gulf, Middle East and North Africa (Mena), said.
Expansion
Jet Airways capitalised on its flourishing domestic business, where it serves 42 destinations, to expand internationally five years ago when it began to add destinations like Nepal and the Far East.
The carrier now flies to 16 international destinations.
"Our low-cost affiliate, namely Jet Light, is also targeting the Mena region, and it will launch routes to the GCC within four to five months," V.M. Kumar, Jet Airways' regional manager, said.
"Despite the increasing fuel costs, we find that the GCC routes are now the most lucrative, and we expect 75 to 80 per cent capacity in the market," he said.
The company is deploying the new generation Boeing 737 to serve the Abu Dhabi route, with a capacity of 120 seats in economy class and 24 seats in business class.
"We will introduce promotional rates in the first two months, to be adjusted by the beginning of summer peak season in June," Joseph said.
The price of a one-way economy ticket to Mumbai will be Dh450 and a return ticket will be Dh1,000, and to Delhi it will cost Dh500 and Dh1,100 respectively.
"There are about 400,000 Indians living and working in Abu Dhabi, yet our target is not only the Indian passenger, given the growing Indian economy," Joseph said.
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