NEW DELHI : Seven months after the grounding of Jet Airways (India) Ltd, the airline's loyalty and rewards management programme JetPrivilege has been renamed InterMiles. Jet Privilege Private Limited (JPPL) will continue to own InterMiles.

Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways PJSC owns 50.1% stake in JPPL, while the grounded Jet Airways holds the remaining.

"InterMiles will encompass both the award-winning loyalty and rewards programme (previously, JetPrivilege) and the ubiquitous rewards and recognition currency (previously, JPMiles)," the company said in the statement on Thursday.

While Jet Airways was grounded in April due to an acute cash crunch, InterMile's parent JPPL is a profitable entity, with about ₹839 crore of cash in hand at the end of 2018. Carved out as a separate entity from Jet Airways more than five years ago, JPPL has close to 10 million members.

After the grounding of Jet Airways, JPPL tied-up with other airlines to enable existing JetPrivilege members to use their air miles on these carriers for domestic travel.

"What started as a frequent flyer programme has, today, become the platform of choice that empowers our members to fulfill their travel and lifestyle aspirations," JPPL's managing director Manish Dureja said in a statement.

JPPL was incorporated in 2012 as a wholly-owned unit of Jet Airways but was hived off as an independent entity in 2014 after Etihad took a majority stake for $150 million, valuing the firm at $300 million. Etihad’s investment in JPPL was part of its overall $600 million investment in Jet Airways announced in April 2013. Etihad continues to hold 24% stake in the grounded airline.

On Point Loyalty, a global management consultancy focused on airline loyalty programmes, valued JPPL at $1.13 billion (about ₹7,300 crore) last year, based on the average rupee exchange rate in November 2018.

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