Japan Airlines (JAL) seems to have come out of the grip of war hysteria. After over two weeks of suspension, the airline is going to resume its New Delhi-Tokyo flight from June 27. According to company officials, bookings have already started.
Moreover, six years after JAL reduced its India flights, it is introducing a third flight in October. By 2003, the airline is planning to nearly double its seat capacity to 855 per week, from the current 466.
JAL has been losing money because of the suspension of flights in June. The airline now plans to focus aggressively on the business traveller. It is going to operate its third flight on the existing New Delhi-Tokyo route. It is also likely to introduce a fourth flight after seeing how the third one fares.
JAL is also going to phase out aircraft earlier in operation in India and bring in Boeing 767 and Boeing 777 aircraft by next year.
Thai Airways International is also ignoring the Indo-Pak stand-off and will expand operations in India. The airline plans to increase daily flights from Mumbai and touch new destinations in the south, including Bangalore and Chennai. The plans, however, are subject to bilateral permission.
Thai Airways operates three flights per week from Kolkata, three from Mumbai and daily flights from New Delhi with a capacity of 4,100 seats per week. According to Thai Airways officials, the airline has been doing particularly well this summer, with traffic having increased 25 per cent last year.
