Etihad Airways shuts ticketing and reservation offices in India

NEW DELHI: Etihad Airways has shut its ticketing and reservation offices in India, a move that comes after the Abu Dhabi-based carrier pulled out Super Jumbo Airbus 380 from its operations in the country.

The airline, which has a partnership with domestic carrier Jet Airways, had 11 offices in India till last month.

"From April 1, 2017, we will not be operating any Etihad ticket offices across India. To facilitate our guests with any queries regarding their ticket booking, they can visit us on etihad-.com or contact our customer centre that can be contacted on a 24/7 call centre,” the airline said in a notice.

In response to a query from ET, the airline said that “as part of its commitment to service guests roundthe-clock, Etihad Airways is increasing its service delivery by switching to a 24/7 support operation”.

“Our staff at the 24/7 service centre are fully equipped to help with all new bookings and re-issuing of tickets, ensuring guests continue to get the same level of service that they were offered by the ticketing offices, which have now closed,” the airline said in an email response. Aviation analysts welcomed the move.

“Etihad’s steps to restructure its India operations is being smart and logical; when you have a structured and established partnership in India through Jet Airways, it makes sense to build synergies and efficiencies albeit improve bottom line. This acts as a move to strengthen its alliance relationship with Jet Airways,” said Mark D Martin, founder of Martin Consulting, an aviation consultancy firm.

The airline recently announced that it will downgrade flights into Mumbai by replacing the Airbus 380 aircraft with the smaller Airbus 340.