[Deal Alert] Business Class fares from Abu Dhabi to India!

Deal details

Air India is offering an excellent deal on business class round-trip fares from Abu-Dhabi to Mumbai. The fares are applicable for February, March and April. On most dates, the round-trip fare is $372, which is almost half of its competitors (Jet Airways and Etihad). These fares are only slightly higher than economy.

An example can be found here.

For about $170 more, you could fly to practically any other city in India with a stopover in Mumbai. This also means you could experience the beautiful GVK Business Lounge – the best lounge I have seen in my life!

Background

Abu Dhabi, the capital city of UAE, has been witnessing significant traction from India-based carriers. Etihad flies direct to most large airports in India and is also a significant stakeholder in Jet Airways – which is India’s largest full service carrier. Etihad and Jet Airways together fly 5x daily in the Abu Dhabi to Mumbai route. LCCs such as Indigo and GoAir have also started flying to Abu Dhabi from southern India.

Also remember, Abu Dhabi is only a short drive from Dubai. If you are staying in Dubai Marina, Abu Dhabi airport is about 50 min while Dubai airport is 25 min.

My view

I have flown Air India a number of times on both economy and business – flight duration ranging for 50 minutes to 14 hours. The soft product – especially in business class – has largely been great and the food has been excellent. However, in rare occasions, the cabin crew can be grumpy or disinterested.

These are excellent fares – only marginally higher than economy. Additionally, miles can be credited to any Star Alliance member account.

However, I do not understand the logic of operating a highly competitive Abu Dhabi to Mumbai route. Air India’s hub is the capital of Delhi and most of its international operations are based out of Delhi. It is rather surprising that Air India does not operate a direct flight (in full-service) from Abu Dhabi to Delhi but has one for Mumbai.