Etihad has started adding more flights from India as it looks to utilise the capacity which is lying idle due to temporary suspension of most of its operations to China due to coronavirus outbreak.
For now, the airline is increasing the frequency of flights from existing points of network like Trivandrum on a sporadic basis but has decided to add a second frequency to Trivandrum and a third frequency to Chennai for the entire month of May as it looks for "short-term" re-allocation of spare capacity.
"It is a fluid situation and changing every day. We have suspended some operations but we are still operating to Beijing. We are still seeing where we can operate those assets in short term," a senior executive at Etihad said.
While the airline hopes that the situation which has arisen due to the outbreak of deadly coronavirus be resolved soon, it may look at re-allocating some of the spare capacity on a long-term basis, officials said.
"We are not completely dependent on China. We have opportunities in Saudi Arabia, India, North America among others," a senior executive said.
The airline provides direct connectivity to Abu Dhabi from 10 Indian cities, namely Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Cochin, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram or Trivandrum.
"These additional services will be operated by Etihad Airways A320 and will add 158 seats to each route. As a result of these seasonal changes, Etihad Airways will operate 21 weekly flights to and from Chennai, and 14 weekly flights to and from Thiruvananthapuram during this period," the airline said. The airline will also replace a narrow-body with a wide-body on one of the flights from Chennai.
The airline, which has completed 15 years in India, is confident that it will be able to offer a better service to passengers travelling to the US with its pre-clearance immigration facility at Abu Dhabi airport terminal.
14/02/20 Anu Sharma/CNBC TV18
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For now, the airline is increasing the frequency of flights from existing points of network like Trivandrum on a sporadic basis but has decided to add a second frequency to Trivandrum and a third frequency to Chennai for the entire month of May as it looks for "short-term" re-allocation of spare capacity.
"It is a fluid situation and changing every day. We have suspended some operations but we are still operating to Beijing. We are still seeing where we can operate those assets in short term," a senior executive at Etihad said.
While the airline hopes that the situation which has arisen due to the outbreak of deadly coronavirus be resolved soon, it may look at re-allocating some of the spare capacity on a long-term basis, officials said.
"We are not completely dependent on China. We have opportunities in Saudi Arabia, India, North America among others," a senior executive said.
The airline provides direct connectivity to Abu Dhabi from 10 Indian cities, namely Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Cochin, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram or Trivandrum.
"These additional services will be operated by Etihad Airways A320 and will add 158 seats to each route. As a result of these seasonal changes, Etihad Airways will operate 21 weekly flights to and from Chennai, and 14 weekly flights to and from Thiruvananthapuram during this period," the airline said. The airline will also replace a narrow-body with a wide-body on one of the flights from Chennai.
The airline, which has completed 15 years in India, is confident that it will be able to offer a better service to passengers travelling to the US with its pre-clearance immigration facility at Abu Dhabi airport terminal.
14/02/20 Anu Sharma/CNBC TV18
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