Mumbai: Jet Airways, India's second largest airline by market share, has leased a wide body aircraft along with 60 of its cabin crew to Abu Dhabi based Etihad Airways, a move that indicates a burgeoning partnership, even before the two airlines ink an equity stake sale.
In aviation parlance, a wet lease of an aircraft is an arrangement whereby the lessor, in this instance Jet, provides crew, maintenance and aircraft for a consideration. In turn the lessor takes on the responsibility for supplying and operating the aircraft.
The cabin crew will be trained by Etihad in Mumbai over the next three months. This is the second such collaborative agreement between the two carriers who are engaged in protracted discussions for over three months for an equity partnership and a strategic alliance. Jet had earlier announced a sale and lease back of Jet's Heathrow-London slots for $70 million in February to Etihad. Confirming this, Jet CEO Nikos Kardassis said the crew was surplus with Jet as it has withdrawn flights to its European hub in Brussels originating from Chennai.
26/03/13 Manisha Singhal/Economic Times
