An entity set up to finance affiliates of Etihad Airways said Jet Airways India has become the third carrier in the group to fall behind on interest payments. EA Partners I, a vehicle created in 2015 to allow Etihad to provide funds to airlines in which it owned stakes, said in a statement that the Indian carrier failed to make a payment on March 19 on account of "temporary liquidity constraints." Etihad set up two vehicles, EA Partners I and II, which sold $1.2b of bonds to raise funds for several airlines. The structure was designed to provide financing for the airlines while minimizing the burden on the balance sheet of their Abu Dhabi-based parent company. The airlines each guarantee as much as 20% of the bonds, making regular contributions into a cash pool from which coupons are paid to investors who bought the securities. EA Partners I’s $700m of bonds maturing in September 2020 have been trading at about 40% below face value after two other airlines in the group, Air Berlin and Alitalia, started insolvency proceedings in 2017. Etihad owns a 24% stake in Jet Airways.<br/>