Etihad rules out investments in Indian airlines

Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways has no plans to invest in Indian airlines, CEO Antonoaldo Neves confirmed in an interview this week.

“The answer is a clear no,” he told Economic Times, an Indian financial daily.

Under its former CEO James Hogan, Etihad acquired stakes in several global airlines. In 2023 it purchased a 24 percent stake in Jet Airways for $379 million and paid $150 million to buy a 50 percent stake in Jet’s loyalty programme.

Etihad is exploring strategic partnerships to increase passenger volume at Abu Dhabi Airport, the CEO said.

It has already teamed up with India’s newest low-cost carrier, Akasa Air. The deal allows the Gulf airline to sell seats on Akasa flights from Bengaluru and Ahmedabad to Abu Dhabi.

Etihad flies to 11 Indian cities and can expand its service to as many as 20 destinations.

The carrier operates nearly 170 weekly flights to and from India, the report said. 

Neves said the airline has requested that the Indian government increase seat capacity because of growing demand.

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However, both UAE and Indian airlines have already used most of their seat quota, making it hard to add more flights for now, the report said.

Last month Etihad, which may be considering selling shares to the public, posted net profit of AED685 million ($187 million) in the three months to March 31. This was up by one-third compared with the same period last year. 

Its passenger traffic rose 16 percent to 5 million, while load factor (how efficiently a carrier fills its available seat capacity) rose 1 percentage point to 87 percent.

The airline has an additional 94 jets on order, comprising a mix of Airbus and Boeing models.