Big airlines shop for small jets

Mumbai: The country’s scheduled domestic carriers are ordering over 150 small jets, which will be delivered in the next two to three years.
Carriers like Indian, Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines and Paramount Airways, apart from a host of start-up airlines, are sewing up deals to acquire 50-70 seater aircraft for less congested routes.
As many as 35-40 new small jets will join various fleets by the end of this year.
Indian is planning to have 16 50-seater turboprop aircraft. This is in addition to its earlier plan to acquire six 70-seater regional jets on lease.
Kingfisher Airlines is set to add 8 ATRs to its fleet this year, while it has already placed confirmed orders for 35 ATRs. The country’s largest budget carrier, Air Deccan, will add 25 more 72-seater turboprop jets in the next three years.
Start-up airlines such as MDLR Airlines are also planning to go in for Bombardier or Embraer jets to start point-to-point services.
At present, only 18 per cent of the 400 civilian aircraft in the country are jets with below 100 seats, but in the next two years they would comprise over 37 per cent of the 600-odd aircraft in the Indian skies.
26/04/07 P R Sanjai/Business Standard

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Categories: General Aviation Apr 2007, New Apr 2007