Jet plans Kolkata-Dhaka flight in June

Having made its first international foray with Colombo, Jet Airways is next charting a Kolkata - Dhaka flight in June, to get on with the South Asian Association of Regional Co-operation (SAARC) region it has been allowed to operate in.

The airline, which, along with Air Sahar, was allowed to fly out other SAARC countries by the Union Cabinet in January, made its maiden international flight to Colombo from Chennai on Tuesday.

Addressing a press conference today, Wolfang Prock-Schauer, chief executive officer, Jet Airways (India), said, "We would also start flights to Maladives and flights from Delhi to Kathmandu."

Schauer pointed out that the company has initiated turnaround measures like tight cost control, aggressive yield management, to optimise the existing network of flights and reducing the ground time of flights.

When asked about whether the Jet Airwayswould close the current financial year with a profit Schauer said efforts have been taken on that front but would be unable to comment about it. During 2002-03, Jet Airways made a loss of Rs 245 crore. The air carrier expects to start flights from Bangalore to Colombo in the next two months and in the next phase start flights from Mumbai.

Jet Airways has got approval to operate 28 flights to Colombo from 41 destination in India so if there is an increased demand to fly to Colombo it has the potential to increase the number flights to Colombo.

It is starting out operating seven flights a week from Chennai to Colombo. There will be five flights from Bangalore and Mumbai to Colombo in the next few months. There are about 93,000 Indians visiting Sri Lanka annually while 3,00,000 Indians transit through Colombo every year.

Jet Airways has announced inaugural fares to enhance traffic from various points in India to Sri Lanka. It is offering a special return excursion fare of Rs 7,460 on the Chennai-Colombo-Chennai sector from 23 March to 30 April 2004. The one way economy class fare from Colombo to Chennai is Sri Lankan Rs 8,500 and business class fare will be Sri Lankan Rs 13,200 till 31 March.

John Keells Holdings Ltd partner of Jet Airways in Sri Lanka expects to promote India as a destination for tourism and shopping. Romesh David, sector head-logistics, John Keells Holdings Ltd said that they will not only promote India as a weekend destination but also as an attractive destination for business, conventions and longer vacations.