Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi International) has agreed to extend USD35 million in assistance to its debt-ridden group member Jet Airways (JAI, Mumbai International) through a pre-purchase of discounted mileage redemption by loyalty programme Jet Privilege, ANI newswire has reported.

"Etihad Airways confirms it proposed a financial restructuring and support plan for Jet Airways that was approved by its majority shareholder. This plan includes a USD35 million cash pre-purchase to Jet Airways by Jet Privilege, which is majority-owned by Etihad Airways," the Emirati carrier said.

Etihad Airways currently owns 50.1% shares in Jet Privilege and 24% in Jet Airways itself.

According to ANI's sources, Etihad Airways is also prepared to extend other forms of assistance to the struggling carrier in India.

The Indian carrier is in a serious financial crisis after having lost INR13.3 billion (USD190 million) net between April and June 2018. Jet had a total debt of INR81.5 billion rupees (USD1.2 billion) as of March 31, 2018. Over the recent weeks, it has repeatedly deferred payments of salaries or has paid them in instalments.