Jet Airways to ramp up local, international networks

Mumbai: Jet Airways, the country’s top private airline, is recasting itself as a network carrier by fortifying its international and domestic connectivity to make the most of the global economic recovery.
“Jet is looking to explore new destination strategies,” said Jet Airways chief commercial officer Sudheer Raghavan, adding that the carrier will target routes that do not have a traditional gestation period of 18 months to turn profitable.
Jet is likely to add flights on routes like Delhi-Hong Kong, Singapore-Delhi as well as destinations like Bangkok and the Gulf. It will also increase the connectivity to Europe in the coming months. Jet’s strategy is a sign that it is shedding the caution necessitated by the slowdown.
Airlines across the globe have struggled in recent years against surging fuel prices and the slowdown. As costs ratcheted up, the number of passengers fell sharply. But with economies improving, passengers are slowly returning and their numbers grew 20% in 2009 from a year ago.
The Naresh Goyal-owned airline wants to be at the forefront of the revival. The carrier will utilise the sixth freedom right under the aviation freedom rights that allows an airline to use its domicile as a transit point. Jet already uses destinations like Thiruvananthapuram to connect to Mumbai and Dhaka and Kathmandu.
26/04/10 Manisha Singhal/Economic Times

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Categories: Jet Airways Apr 2010