ABU DHABI: Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, is enhancing its inflight dining experience through partnerships with local catering providers across India. With 2024 marking 20 years of Etihad flying to India, the collaboration brings authentic regional cuisine to guests across all cabins, ensuring genuine local flavours on every flight.
Through these local partnerships, Etihad now offers dishes that truly reflect each region’s rich culinary heritage across its comprehensive network of Indian cities: Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Mumbai, New Delhi and Thiruvananthapuram. Guests experience distinctive regional specialities and traditional flavours unique to each departure city.
“Food is deeply personal and connects us to our culture and traditions,” says Turky Al Hammadi, Director of Product and Hospitality at Etihad Airways. “Working with local culinary experts across our network allows us to bring authentic dishes to our guests, ensuring they experience genuine flavours that remind them of home.”
The enhanced dining experience features cuisines distinctive to each region. Mumbai departures showcase Maharashtrian flavours, while New Delhi flights highlight the richness of Mughlai cuisine. Guests departing from other cities across India similarly enjoy their own regional specialities prepared according to traditional recipes.
This collaboration with local providers not only ensures authentic taste experiences but also demonstrates Etihad’s commitment to the communities it serves, supporting local businesses while bringing genuine flavours to guests throughout their journey.
Festive treats mark Diwali across select routes
Etihad will also be celebrating Diwali, the festival of lights, by treating guests on selected routes to a delicious range of traditional Indian sweets and delicacies on 31 October and 1 November.
Guests can indulge in a delightful selection of traditional Diwali sweets including the traditional Laddu, milk-based Barfi, cardamom-spiced Peda, rose-scented Gulab Jamun, and golden Jalebi, alongside festive favourites like Kalakhand, Gujhia and the honeycomb-textured Ghewar. These special treats will be served across all cabins on flights to and from India, as well as on services to the UK (London and Manchester), US (Boston, Chicago, New York and Washington DC), Toronto in Canada and Colombo in Sri Lanka.
As a leading global airline serving 80 destinations worldwide and with staff from more than 140 different nationalities, Etihad is proud to celebrate a wide range of multi-cultural festivities on board such as Diwali, Ramadan, Eid, Thanksgiving and the holiday season. Etihad’s experience for its guests is deeply rooted in the generous and welcoming hospitality of its home, the UAE, blending traditional Emirati values with the multi-cultural diversity of the modern emirate of Abu Dhabi.
Celebrating Diwali with an expanded Indian network
This year, Etihad has significantly boosted its network across India, launching services to Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram and Jaipur and now serving 11 destinations across India. Just four months after Etihad commenced flights to the Rajasthan city of Jaipur, the airline has announced it will increase flights between Abu Dhabi and Jaipur to ten a week from 15 December 2024, demonstrating the popularity of the route.
