The Hindu Business Line : Jet hopeful of nod for services to more global destinations

JET Airways is hopeful that the Indian civil aviation policy currently under review would result in private carriers being able to operate to more international destinations, including the Gulf states. Jet Airways was recently granted permission to operate its first overseas flight to Colombo.

Mr Abraham Joseph, General Manager, Jet Airways, for Gulf and West Asia, told Business Line that the airline is very excited about the prospect of starting operations to Colombo within a few weeks' time.

"We hope to start either later this month or next month and we are looking at operating initially from Mumbai and Chennai to Colombo, and will consider Bangalore and Thiruvananthapuram at a later stage," he said. Certain requirements are currently being ironed out before the airline starts operations on the overseas route, he added.

Wen queried as to whether the airline had any plans to operate to the Gulf, Mr Joseph said: "The Gulf is a very sought-after route by all airlines. We have not however asked for any particular region. We are waiting for advice from the Government in this regard.

"We are very excited though as this is a positive trend and we hope the new policy shows leniency towards private carriers regarding operating on overseas routes."

On the airline's performance with regard to passenger traffic from the Gulf states, Mr Joseph said that despite the launching of many direct flights by the airlines to different Indian destinations, Jet Airways had managed to maintain its business at the same level as the previous year.

"There has been no growth mainly because of the launch of direct flights by major airlines on the India-Gulf sector. But we are happy that we have been able to maintain the same level of business as last year. Saudi Arabia, which is a good market for us, saw a drop of 10 to 11 per cent over the last year, but overall the business has been steady," he said.

The airline official indicated that in view of the increase in overall passenger traffic to India from the Gulf, to the tune of 13 to 14 per cent over the past year, airlines operating on the sector have been able to maintain steady business.

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