Etihad Airways is reportedly in the final stages of talks to buy part of either Jet Airways (India) or debt ridden Kingfisher Airlines (KFA). A deal, which could be announced by next week, would be the first since the government relaxed ownership rules in September to allow foreign airlines to invest up to 49% in a domestic carrier.
However, buying into Jet is seen as more lucrative for Etihad as the two carriers already have a code-sharing agreement and could target the market share of state-owned Air India and Dubai-based Emirates Airline, the latter of which dominates routes between India and the Middle East.
The two carriers have already entered into a code-share agreement for Abu Dhabi-Mumbai/Delhi routes operated by Jet Airways, and the flights originating from Abu Dhabi for Mumbai, Delhi, Cochin, Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, Chennai and Hyderabad operated by Etihad.
Code-sharing allows an airline to book its passengers on its partner carriers and provide seamless transport to multiple destinations where it has no presence.
