New Delhi: It may be just an hour-and-a-half drive from the Dubai airport, West Asia's undisputed aviation hub, Abu Dhabi is still expanding the capacity of its international airport from 12.5 million passengers per annum now to 40 million by 2018 and 60 million subsequently. The airport will need passengers to justify the billions of dollars that are being invested. Last week, Abu Dhabi took a significant step in that direction when it signed a new bilateral traffic agreement with India to increase the capacity on the sector from 13,000 seats a week to 50,000 in the next three years. The announcement came just a few hours after Abu Dhabi's national carrier, Etihad, picked up 26 per cent in Jet Airways. Etihad wants to funnel passengers from 23 Indian cities to Abu Dhabi and onwards to Europe, Africa and the US. "The deal is a game changer for Etihad," says Kapil Kaul, who heads the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation in India.
30/04/13 Surajeet Das Gupta/Business Standard
