'Domestic airlines to lose $1 bn in 2007-08'

Mumbai: Domestic airlines are flying towards a combined loss of close to $1 billion (about Rs 4,000 crore) in 2007-08, according to Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal.
Irrational pricing policies and overcapacity have led to this situation though most airlines will be able to cut losses partially because of sale and leasebacked deals for their aircraft with banks, he said. Jet Airways, too, will lose money this fiscal, but Mr Goyal said the airline would return to profitability in a year.
Most of the action in the next year for Jet will be in the form of increased international operations that will take the Mumbai-based carrier to new destinations like Hong Kong, Shanghai, San Francisco, Milan, Muscat and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. Jet hopes to increase revenues (including subsidiary JetLite) to close to $4 billion (Rs 16,000 crore) in a year. Revenues from international flights will be half of the airline’s topline by 2010, Mr Goyal told reporters in Mumbai.
China is the new focus region for Jet Airways. The airline expects to start operations from Mumbai to San Francisco via Shanghai from May and is waiting for the required permit from Chinese authorities. It hopes to pick up a lot of passengers from China for the flight. The airline will hire Chinese crew and has begun recruitment. The idea is to tailor its product to Chinese passenger needs.
07/04/08 Daily Mirror, Sri Lanka

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Apr 2008