UAE carrier Etihad Crystal Cargo on Wednesday launched its weekly freighter services from Delhi, after connecting Mumbai and Chennai earlier this year.
This will enhance business and leisure travel between the UAE and Canada and feed passengers onto each other's flight networks.
A year on, deal between the two airlines still to gather momentum, partly due to management problems at Jet.
Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways is looking to expand its operations in India as the airline continues on its growth plan aiming to reach 100 destinations by 2020 from its current 65, the company's chief executive has said.
Sources said Abu Dhabi-based Etihad would pick up 24 per cent stake.
On a day when service tax department detained another Kingfisher plane for default, the second in two days, the airline announced it was in discussions with Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways for a stake sale which could revive the troubled airline's fortune.
The stake-purchase agreement with Jet, second largest domestic passenger market share, will make Etihad the first foreign carrier to buy into an Indian airline.
Etihad has been in talks for a 24 per cent equity stake in Jet, valued at around $300 million, ever since India relaxed ownership rules and allowed foreign airlines to buy up to 49 per cent in local carriers.
The Union Cabinet on Thursday cleared the Rs 2,058 crore (Rs 20.58 billion) stake sale deal between Jet Airways and Abu Dhabi carrier Etihad.
The deal will improve debt-equity to a manageable level of 3.8 and support its share price, thereby lessening the pain for shareholders.
Waiting time for customs, immigration clearance cut drastically; Jet-Etihad alliance to get competitive advantage
Speaking at the 2013 CAPA Australia Pacific Aviation Summit held in Sydney, Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airline's President and CEO James Hogan said, "We are delighted to welcome Air Serbia to our equity alliance, and look forward to receiving final approvals from regulators in India of our investment in Jet Airways," he added.
This follows the Union Cabinet approving enhanced traffic rights between India and Abu Dhabi.
The still versions of the campaign will appear in print and digital.
Cheering the move, shares of Jet opened the day on a bullish note and further jumped 7.26 per cent to Rs 414.70 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
The move is likely to impact Jet's operations out of Belgium and India.
Etihad has high hopes from Jet Airways deal in which it bought out majority stake in 2013.
Objections were being raised by senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh, Communist Party of India's Gurudas Dasgupta, Dinesh Trivedi (Trinamool Congress) and Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy over the deal, each of whom had shot off separate letters to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
This meeting came in the backdrop of a controversy raked up by some politicians, including those from Bharatiya Janata Party, Communist Party of India and Trinamool Congress, who objected to the sale of 24 per cent of Jet's equity to Etihad at a cost of Rs 2,058 crore, saying it was not in the national interests.
Qatar, Dubai and Sharjah want 80,000 additional seats per week as part of bilateral negotiations with India.
Abu Dhabi-based carrier seeks a cut in premium it had agreed to pay on Jet's stock price
The Home Ministry has conveyed to the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) that it has not given security clearance to the Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways' proposal to buy a 24 per cent stake in Jet Airways.
Extending its previous day's rally, shares of the company opened on a strong note and further gained 8.78 per cent to Rs 581.85 on the BSE.
Etihad and Qatar Airways have held informal talks with Kingfisher and SpiceJet to expand their footprints in India.
Competition Commission has held on to its observation about Etihad gaining joint control in Jet Airways and "significant" rights to appoint directors with a 24% stake purchase, while rejecting a plea to "rectify" its order that approved the deal earlier this month.
The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) on Friday deferred a decision on Rs 2,000-crore (Rs 20 billion) Jet-Etihad deal, the largest foreign investment in the Indian aviation sector, and sought clarity on control and ownership.
At the NSE, the stock zoomed up by 8 per cent to Rs 444.
The company's chief operating officer Capt Hameed Ali will be the acting CEO.
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Former Air India Executive Director Jitender Bhargava filed the appeal challenging the decision of the Competition Commission of India to clear the Jet-Etihad deal without carrying out a detailed assessment.
The spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs said diplomats deal with a variety of issues and it was normal for them to collect information, assess them and send report to the government back home.
The Etihad delegation was led by its CEO James Hogan at the meeting, which was also attended by Jet Airways promoter Naresh Goyal.
Ahead of a crucial meeting next week, the Foreign Investment Promotion Board is scrutinising the commercial cooperation agreement between Jet Airways and Etihad Airways to ensure control is not passed on to the Abu Dhabi-based airline.
Both lenders and Etihad are not comfortable with the entities holding stake in Jet as they have no proven credentials in running a big business
Wife Anita Goyal and one nominee of Etihad Airways PJSC would also step down from the board.
Sources close to the deal say, besides a higher stake (earlier, the negotiations were on for sale of up to 24 per cent), Etihad has asked for its representation on the board of the Indian airline, in sync with its shareholding.
Etihad's acquisition of 24 per cent stake in Jet Airways was the first FDI in an Indian carrier by a foreign airline.
Jet Airways, which is in the process of finalising a stake sale deal with Etihad Airways, plans to extend its code share agreement with the Abu Dhabi-based carrier to the Mumbai-Brussels-Newark route, sources said.
Former Air India Executive Director Jitendra Bhargava had filed the appeal questioning the decision of CCI to approve the Jet-Etihad deal without carrying out a detailed assessment.
Jet's flights to Abu Dhabi could be used to carry passengers from India headed for the US and Europe.
How the first FDI in aviation was achieved.
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