I’m back at my desk early this morning thinking and all excited about how 2014 would shape up for work, personal life and my travel plans. As an aviation geek, of course, I am looking forward to trying out new products in the skies and trying to decide what goals should I work towards in 2014. This year might just be a very exciting year for Indian aviation. Here is why: Air India might get accepted into the Star Alliance this year. Air India has been trying to get into the Star Alliance for a long time. After much back and forth, last month, they got invited to join the Star Alliance the second time over. Whether they will join…
Etihad
Tag Archives for Etihad.
Etihad acquires 24% in Jet Airways and majority stake in JetPrivilege
Jet Airways has completed the induction of Etihad Airways as a 24% shareholder in the airline, following the initial announcement of this deal in April 2013. Under the deal, Jet Airways issued new shares to Etihad Airways, and the stake of the founder/promoter of the airline, Naresh Goyal, is now down to 51%. James Hogan, who is the CEO of Etihad Airways, and James Rigney, who is the CFO, have also come on the Board of Directors of Jet Airways. In a related move, JetPrivilege, the loyalty program of Jet Airways, which was spun off into a separate company last year, also got sold with 50.1% stake of the JP program now with Etihad. Like I have stated earlier, there…
Jet Airways to move hub to Abu Dhabi after effecting the alliance with Etihad
With rapid progress being made on the Jet Airways equity alliance with Etihad Airways (the deal is expected to go through by September 30), details have begin to emerge about the commercial cooperation between 9W and EY. The fear of this being just one-sided and everyone travelling on EY metal after changing planes at Abu Dhabi seem to be unfounded. Here are some pointers into the game plan which will emerge going forward: Jet Airways will develop Abu Dhabi as an exclusive hub for flights to North America, South America, Africa and the UAE. Jet Airways will have to route its services to Dubai & Sharjah via Abu Dhabi when it becomes economically viable. However, it seems exceptions can be…
Jet–Etihad deal gets back on course
Jet Airways might as well become the the first of the Indian carriers to get a foreign equity investment, with the Jet – Etihad deal moving in the forward direction today after being stalled for a while. For a quick recap, Jet Airways agreed to sell 24% stake in the airline, majority stake in loyalty program JetPrivilege and its London slots to Etihad for a price of roughly $600 million. This deal, obviously, was subject to regulatory scrutiny and approvals. However, it turns out that there were way too many clauses where Etihad was going to take over control, including the move to migrate revenue management to Abu Dhabi. Also, Etihad was getting veto powers, so they had a say…
Going RTW: Flight EY101 (AUH-JFK), Etihad, Diamond First
Introduction & Trip Index <Etihad First Class Lounge, Abu Dhabi Holiday Inn, LaGuardia Airport> Like I earlier mentioned, by the time I went through the secondary check gates (for US-bound flights), and reached the gates, boarding was already underway and I queued through a bunch of economy passengers to get through to the jetbridge. However, this was a good time to say hello to the A340. Abu Dhabi (AUH) – New York (JFK) Thursday, May 9 2013 Depart: 10:13AM Arrive: 04:41PM Duration: 14hr28min Distance flown: 6897 miles Aircraft: Airbus A340-600 Seat: 3A (First) Meal Service: Lunch, Snacks Once on board, however, everything was okay. at the gate, the purser greeted me, and asked one of…
Going RTW: Etihad First Class Lounge, Abu Dhabi Terminal 3
Introduction & Trip Index < EY205 (BOM-AUH), Etihad, Business EY101 (AUH-JFK), Etihad, First> After a long trip on the bus again, we got out in the oven furnace kind of heat for just a brief moment and hopped into the Terminal 3 building. Even for transit passengers, there was going to be a security check. Like had become the trend so far, I was not being very impressed with the premium-ness of the Etihad experience. There was one premium screening queue as compared to the zillions for the non-premium passengers. And guess what, they closed out the queue right in front of me, transferring those passengers over to regular queue. Let the confusion ensue. After…
Going RTW: Flight EY205 (BOM-AUH), Etihad, Pearl Business
Introduction & Trip Index <Celebrations Lounge, Mumbai T2 Etihad F Lounge, Abu Dhabi T3> Boarding was pretty disorganised, and I’d begin to think this was a Mumbai Airport feature but there are airlines such as Etihad, and back in the day, Kingfisher which would enforce boarding sequence pretty well. So, the incoming flight was delayed, however, instead of going back into the lounge, I just waited in the boarding area. This was my first time being at Gate 1B, so I wasn’t in the know of what I was getting into later. Boarding started about 20 minutes later, and business class was called first, being the highest cabin on this A320.…
Going RTW: Celebrations Lounge, Mumbai Terminal 2
Introduction & Trip Index < Introduction EY205, BOM-AUH, Etihad Business Class> The flight timings for Etihad to fly out of Mumbai are at a very odd hour at 4:50 AM in the morning. Odd for me I mean. I usually prefer day time flights, or even with a night flight, a departure closer to midnight so that I can get on the plane and go off to sleep at the earliest. Etihad offers a limousine pickup and drop service for customers flying with them in Business & First Class. Since I was flying Business Class between Mumbai to Abu Dhabi and First Class there on to…
Going RTW: Introduction & Trip Index
Introduction Check-in: Celebrations Lounge, Terminal 2, Mumbai (BOM) Airborne: Flight EY205 (BOM-AUH), Etihad Airways, Pearl Business Class, Airbus A320-200 Check-in: Etihad First Class Lounge, Terminal 3, Abu Dhabi (AUH) Airborne: Flight EY101 (AUH-JFK), Etihad Airways, Diamond First Class, Airbus A340-600 Hotel Holiday Inn LaGuardia Airport, New York Check-in: Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge, Central Terminal, LaGuardia (LGA) Airborne: Flight UA343 (LGA-DEN), United Airlines, First, Boeing 757-200 Check-in: United Club West, Concourse B, Denver (DEN) Airborne: Flight UA4918 (DEN-COS), United Express, Economy, Dash 8-400 Cheyenne Resort, Colorado Springs Airborne: Flight AA1320 (DEN-DFW), American Airlines, First, Boeing MD-80 Airborne: Flight AA2493 (DFW-LAX), American Airlines, Coach, Boeing 757-200 Check-in: American Airlines/Qantas Flagship Lounge, Los Angeles (LAX) Airborne: Flight AA30 (LAX-JFK), American Airlines, Business,…
Etihad offering a status match to Gold till June 18
Etihad had introduced an opportunity to status match to their Gold tier last year, which I availed of. And they return this year with another opportunity to Status Match Gold tier for Gold tier this year, valid for applications received till June 18, 2013. Existing members of other airlines’ loyalty programmes at a Gold level or higher are invited to join the Etihad Guest programme and have their status matched. The national carrier of the UAE, which is working on getting Jet Airways in its fold, is offering another incentive to successful status matches. For all flights flown in Diamond First Class, you get triple Etihad Guest Miles while it will be double Miles on flights in Pearl Business Class…
Jet Airways to move hub from Brussels to Amsterdam?
While I am not totally accepting this news as fait accompli just yet, however, James Hogan, the CEO of Etihad Airways has made an announcement at Amsterdam, at the press conference to launch the airline’s Abu Dhabi – Amsterdam route, that Jet Airways will be moving its scissor hub from Brussels to Amsterdam. Jet Airways, at present has two flights, which operate from Delhi and Mumbai, go into Brussels, and one goes forward to Toronto and the other to Newark. The scissor hub allows passengers to switch in Brussels, and has been in existence since 2007. In this statement made to Dutch website LuchtvaartNieuws.nl, further picked up by the Business Traveller, Hogan said that Schipol would take over the routes…
