Home Travel News

Partnership has its profits for Etihad

Etihad's strategic investment in Jet Airways is shaping up to be more lucrative than expected, according to senior executives from the two carriers.

Etihad’s strategic investment in Jet Airways is shaping up to be more lucrative than expected, according to senior executives from the two carriers.

Speaking at a media conference in Mumbai, CEOs from both airlines revealed that since Etihad’s 24 percent investment in Jet Airways, both airlines have grown to offer more flights to and from India than any other airline.

Now, both airlines own a 21 percent share of the country’s booming international air travel market – up from the two percent managed by Etihad prior to the equity deal.

Jet Airways

Together, they now operate flights on 15 direct routes between India and Abu Dhabi, offering 40,000 seats each way on the route per week.

Etihad CEO, James Hogan, said that in addition to driving up the airline’s presence in India, it has also served to benefit consumers and the Indian economy.

“Jet Airways is a perfect partner for us.”

James Hogan, Etihad CEO

Air-to-air photograph of Etihad Airways 777-300ER, photographed in January 2006 in the USA over the state of Washington from the Clay Lacy Astrovision Lear 35.

“It is a strong, recognisable brand in India, has an established network and infrastructure, a skilled workforce and a large customer base.”

In the first six months of 2015, Etihad Airways transferred more than 235,000 guests onto Jet Airways’ network into India through its codeshare partnership, with Jet Airways providing 182,000 guests onto the Etihad Airways network.

The improved Jet Airways performance followed a number of other key strategic moves that had been taken, including the airline’s return to being a single brand with a full-service offering, the standardisation of its Boeing 737-800 fleet and a refresh and reconfiguring of cabins on its Airbus A330 and Boeing 777 aircraft.

Meanwhile, the partnership has also helped deliver significantly improved profits for Jet Airways during the quarter ending 30 June 2015.

India

Compared to the same quarter of the previous financial year, Jet Airways’ financial performance improved by INR 484.4 crores or 187.8 percent. The net profit before taxes is INR 226.4 crores compared to a net loss of INR 258 crores for the same period last year.

The airline’s total revenue (combined) for the first quarter FY16 increased by 11 percent to INR 5,658 crores from INR 5,097 crores. Passenger revenues for Q1 FY16 rose by 10.4 percent to INR 4,707 crores from INR 4,262 crores.

The combined passenger load factor in Q1 of FY16 increased by 2.2 percentage points to 82.4 percent, compared to 80.2 percent in Q1 of FY15. This improvement is largely attributable to the optimized network which ensures tighter domestic and international network integration.

Have you travelled Jet Airways before? Share your experience with us below.