Etihad Airways said on Thursday it will expand its services to India through the addition of 28 weekly flights and routes to three more Indian cities starting early 2017.

The expansion comes as Jet Airways, a strategic partner of Etihad, announced new routes and additional frequencies.

In a statement, Etihad said it will launch a fourth daily flight between Abu Dhabi and Kozhikode on March 26, 2017, capitalising on the strong traffic flows between the state of Kerala and the UAE.

The airline will also double its frequency between Abu Dhabi and Ahmedabad from February 1, 2017 with the launch of a new daily service.

Currently, Etihad Airways and Jet Airways collectively offer 252 weekly flights between Abu Dhabi and 15 cities across India. With the newly-announced flights, the airlines’ cooperative services will cover 18 Indian cities with 280 flights each week

On Thursday, Jet Airways announced a number of changes to its operations between India and Abu Dhabi. These include the launch of daily flights between Tiruchirappalli, in the state of Tamil Nadu, and Abu Dhabi on February 1, 2017.

Jet Airways will also introduce daily services from Kannur to Abu Dhabi. Additionally, the airline said it was planning daily services from the northern Indian city of Chandigarh to Abu Dhabi. The two routes are due to begin in the second half of 2017, subject to the completion of operational readiness at these airports.

From January 15, 2017, Jet Airways will introduce a second daily service between New Delhi and Abu Dhabi.