Jet Airways flies to Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi: Jet Airways yesterday inaugurated two daily flights from Abu Dhabi to New Delhi and Mumbai.

The new routes increase the number of the carrier's international destinations to sixteen, while additional routes from Abu Dhabi will be considered in the winter of 2008 and the summer of 2009.

"We will have to experiment with the new routes before deciding on expansion, but the 70 per cent annual capacity for flights to and from the UAE is attractive enough," Fareed Al Alawi, Jet Airways vice-president for Gulf and MEA, told a news conference yesterday.

Jet Airways is the 37th carrier operating from the Abu Dhabi International Airport (Adia).

"By the end of this year, the number of carriers utilising Adia will increase to 39 or 40 airlines," said Mohammad Al Bulooki, director of marketing and communications at Abu Dhabi Airports Company.

The non-stop flight will leave Mumbai at 9.35pm local time and reach Abu Dhabi at 11.25pm local time.

In the return direction, it will depart from Abu Dhabi at 12.15am local time and reach Mumbai at 4.50am local time.

From New Delhi, the flight will depart at 9pm local time and arrive in Abu Dhabi at 11.35pm local time. The return flight will leave Abu Dhabi at 12.25am and reach New Delhi at 5.20am local time.

The airline is offering introductory prices (one-way) of Dh450 and Dh500 respectively, with many connecting flights to cities within India costing around Dh250 extra.