New Delhi: The much awaited joining of hands involving 2 big aviation players, India's Jet Airways and Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways might come sooner than expected.
Within 10 days, all details regarding the Joint Venture between the 2 aviators will be out in the open. Jet Airways will be looking to get around Rs 1,500 - Rs 1,800 crore in its bank account, and will be offloading around 24% stake in return. However for the deal to go through, there are some complexities to go through first. Naresh Goyal holds 80% shares of Jet Airways, but it is done through a firm in Isle of Man, called Tail Winds. The intital move would be convert these shares into his personal holding, but only after legal process approved by the Indian government.
In India, the deal with Etihad could give Jet a far reaching international reach along with greater brand reach on consumers. The low price flying with dependibility of the brand will make it a formidable front against the Indian state run Air India, which has been ailing too.
In the Middle East, where Etihad is based, the code sharing and stake buying aggreement will also give them a new market to explore, as well as have a stronger footing compared to Emirates Airlines. The big chunk of India and Middle East air traffic could fall into Etihad's shares, thus denting the fortunes of Emirates.
02/03/13 Dailybhaskar.com
