Jet Airways, India's second largest airline in terms of market share, said it has reconfigured all of its 75 JetKonnect Boeing 737s with a twin-class configuration, offering eight business class seats on every aircraft in an effort to drum up demand in an indifferent market.
Many industry experts say this is an attempt by Jet to cash in on the gap created by Kingfisher Airlines' absence on many routes - a move, they say, will eventually boost Jet's bottom line.
Jet, however, attributes this move to its positive take on the economy and flyer feedback. "The Kingfisher Airlines effect has been in the market for a year and a half now, but those are minor things. Our decisions are not based on those considerations," said Sudheer Raghavan, chief operations officer, Jet Airways.
"Though pundits are beating the economy down, we are very optimistic about it," Raghavan said, adding, "It is just a matter of conversion of unutilised real estate to premium real estate as seat factors on any flight would not be more than 80%. So, it makes sense to convert that 20-30% of the unutilised inventory that would positively impact bottom line."
15/10/12 Manisha Singhal/Economic Times
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Many industry experts say this is an attempt by Jet to cash in on the gap created by Kingfisher Airlines' absence on many routes - a move, they say, will eventually boost Jet's bottom line.
Jet, however, attributes this move to its positive take on the economy and flyer feedback. "The Kingfisher Airlines effect has been in the market for a year and a half now, but those are minor things. Our decisions are not based on those considerations," said Sudheer Raghavan, chief operations officer, Jet Airways.
"Though pundits are beating the economy down, we are very optimistic about it," Raghavan said, adding, "It is just a matter of conversion of unutilised real estate to premium real estate as seat factors on any flight would not be more than 80%. So, it makes sense to convert that 20-30% of the unutilised inventory that would positively impact bottom line."
15/10/12 Manisha Singhal/Economic Times
