Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi International) has rejected reports in India's Economic Times claiming it has abandoned plans to dry-lease three B777-300(ER)s from its Jet Airways (JAI, Mumbai International) affiliate for the upcoming winter season.

“We already have two Boeing 777-300ERs and two Airbus A330-200s in operation under dry lease from Jet Airways, and are finalizing plans to introduce a further two aircraft before the end of the year,” a spokesman said.

The three aircraft, VT-JEM (msn 35162), VT-JEN (msn 35157), and VT-JEP (msn 35161), are all out on lease to Turkish Airlines (TK, Istanbul Airport) until the end of this month following which they are scheduled to return to India.

Etihad is still on track to launch direct Abu Dhabi International to San Francisco flights on November 18 using the two B777-300(ER)s currently dry-leased from Jet Airways.