Jet to spread wings, plans flights to the US, UK

Jet Airways commenced their South East Asian operations with their inaugural flight from Mumbai touching down at Singapore on April 15.

India's largest private carrier, Jet Airways, was the 78th airline and the first private airline from India to land at Changi International airport, one of the busiest airports in the South East Asia.

Air traffic between India and Singapore has been witnessing good growth over the last 37 years. In 2004 alone, traffic grew by 21 per cent as compared to 2002 and 25 per cent compared to 2003. The entry of Jet Airways will contribute further to this exchange between the two countries.

Wong Woon Liong, director general of Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, said, "Jet Airways new air service will enhance the existing air link between Singapore and Mumbai and make air travel between the two countries even more convenient."

Jet Airways chief operating officer, Peter Luethi, headed the team flying in from Mumbai with chairman Naresh Goyal pulling out at the last minute.

Luethi said, "The airways is spanning new wings and will compete for a considerable share in the international pie of air travel business."

Building on its first international flight to Singapore, Jet Airways is also planning to start regular international flights to Kuala Lumpur, London and New York in the next few months.

The airline also intends to introduce flights to Singapore from Chennai and Delhi in the near future. Speaking to visiting journalists from India, Luethi said that the airline will offer daily flights to Kuala Lumpur from Chennai from May 5.

This will be followed by a daily Mumbai-London flight by May-end and a flight to New York from Mumbai by the end of June-July.

While Jet is optimistic about its foray into the international airline sector, the major portion of its revenues will still come from the domestic sector, Luethi said. Jet expects to fly 75,000-80,000 planes to Singapore in the first year of its operations, he added.

(The correspondent's trip was sponsored by Jet Airways Ltd)