Etihad not seeking airline stakes, focuses on organic growth: CEO Neves

Antonoaldo Neves says aircraft supply, not market access, is the bigger challenge; India accounts for 20% of Etihad's business.

Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways is “not worried” about the lack of additional bilateral rights with India, as global air travel demand is strong and the airline continues to deploy its fleet on non-India routes, Chief Executive Officer Antonoaldo Neves said on Wednesday. However, he added that the airline is willing to add flights to India in 2026–27 if permitted.

 

The bilateral air services agreement between India and Abu Dhabi allows 50,000 weekly seats for airlines from each side. Both Indian and Abu Dhabi-based carriers have fully utilised their allocations.

 

When asked if talks have begun between India and Abu Dhabi to increase bilateral rights, Neves said, “The discussions are always open...both countries have a great relationship. They are always talking.”

 

“I am not worried about the issue of expansion of bilateral rights. I think it is going to happen one way or another. If it does not happen, it is very easy — the fares on these routes are going to go up. The traffic will not be able to grow, and we will find another balance. You can’t beat the market,” he added.

 

Neves said the concern is the limited availability of aircraft in the market, even as global air travel demand is increasing. Therefore, the question, he said, is not about expanding bilateral rights but about having enough planes to deploy on India-Abu Dhabi routes.

 

Both Airbus and Boeing are facing supply chain challenges that have slowed deliveries of wide-body aircraft to carriers like Etihad. “The challenges are more for the wide-body planes. I think we have to work under the assumption that it is going to be tight for the next five to 10 years,” he said.

 

While aircraft supply remains constrained, demand continues to be high globally. Etihad’s load factors — or occupancy rates — are around 90 per cent, Neves said. Flights to and from Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Europe — similar to India routes — are performing strongly.

 

India accounts for about 20 per cent of Etihad’s total business, both in passenger and revenue terms, he said. 

 

India is reluctant to expand bilateral flying rights for the UAE and Qatar, as Middle Eastern hubs like Dubai and Doha primarily serve as transit points for Indian passengers traveling onward to North America and Europe. At the same time, Indian carriers are steadily inducting wide-body aircraft and ramping up non-stop operations to long-haul destinations. The government has maintained that additional rights will be considered only when there is substantial point-to-point demand rather than predominantly onward connections.

 

When asked about the share of point-to-point traffic on Etihad’s India flights, Neves said, “To be honest, I don’t pay much attention to that because I am not looking at that metric. I am looking at profitability. I don’t have a target for point-to-point traffic and transfer traffic. I am going to sell the ticket that makes more money.”

 

On the impact of recent US policy measures — including 50 per cent tariffs and H1B visa restrictions — on India flight demand, he said: “Only about 38 per cent of our seats on India flights are sold in India. The remaining 62 per cent are sold abroad. The fact is that we help India bring a lot of tourists... We sell to tourists but we also sell to students. I think it is too early to say if there has been a ‘significant’ impact on my demand. But there is an impact, especially on the economy side. We see less economy tickets being sold in the periods that students travel.”

 

“We see some impact in student demand in the economy class. This could be because they are avoiding travel or just not going or whatever. However, this is compensated by other segments (tourists)... If tickets go down in price because one segment is not doing well, it opens opportunities for another set of people (tourists) to come and visit India,” he added.

 

Neves said Etihad expanded capacity to India in 2023–24, then significantly increased flights to Europe in 2024–25, followed by higher deployment to Southeast Asia in 2025–26. “It is just the way I am building my network. In 2026–27, we believe we would go back to China and India to add flights. If we don’t get capacity (bilateral rights) in India, we would add more services to China and the US.”

 

Asked if Etihad plans to buy a stake in any Indian airline, Neves said, “We don’t do that anymore. Our focus is on organic growth... In the past, Etihad was trying to control airlines via equity. I don’t believe in that model.” In April 2013, Etihad Airways had acquired a 24 per cent stake in Jet Airways for about $379 million (Rs 2,058 crore at that time). Jet Airways went bankrupt in April 2019.

 

On starting flights to new airports such as Noida and Navi Mumbai, he said, “If we get additional bilateral rights, we will start flights to these locations.”