Will expand flights to India, have bilateral available: Etihad CEO Neves
NEW DELHI: Abu Dhabi-based Etihad will expand services to India, which it describes as one of its biggest markets. Unlike other bilateral-constrained emirates or countries, Abu Dhabi is yet to use about 10,000 of its weekly entitlement of 50,000 seats to India. It will deploy more flights to 10 cities here over the next one to three years, said Antonoaldo Neves, who took over as Etihad Aviation Group CEO last October when the emirate transferred its ownership to wealth fund ADQ.
The Salvador-born Neves also does not see the upcoming Tata Group Air India or IndiGo as “threats”. “The Indian market is big enough for all of us. What is a challenge to the industry is not competition but unavailability of aircraft and trained personnel (something being witnessed majorly post Covid),” said Neves who was previously CEO of Portugal’s TAP; president of Brazil’s Azul Airlines and a partner at McKinsey.
