NEW DELHI: This could be the biggest ever global
footprint plan firmed up by an Indian carrier. Jet Airways has decided to link
23 Indian cities to numerous points in the US (including a nonstop to San Francisco),
Gulf, east Africa and Europe via Abu Dhabi. These flights will be in addition
to the nonstops it operates directly from India to the west and Southeast Asia,
which are going to be increased also.
Jet's has submitted its ambitious expansion plan to the
aviation ministry at a time when the airline is all set to sell 24% stake to
Abu Dhabi's Etihad for close to Rs 1,600 crore and hopes to get access to the
oil rich emirate's low-cost funding. The airline, which currently has 100
aircraft in its fleet, has told the government it is in talks with Boeing to
place a massive order for Boeing 737 Max and 777s.
According to the plan, Jet will kick-start this expansion
by operating its wide-body aircraft like the Boeing 777 and Airbus A-330 from
Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai (in first phase) and Hyderabad, Cochin and
Trivandrum (in second phase) to Abu Dhabi. Replicating its 'scissor' operation
of Brussels on a much larger scale, these aircraft will then fly onwards to US
cities like San Francisco, Washington, New York, Newark and Chicago. After a
quick turnaround, these aircraft will then fly to the Indian metros via Abu
Dhabi. Jet's narrow-body Boeing 737, which will be deployed from other 19
cities, will be used to fly further on to nearby destinations in the Gulf and
even some points in Africa.
The network planning of Jet given to the ministry
indicates that all flights to Abu Dhabi from 23 Indian cities will leave at
late night and reach there by midnight. The flights from India will reach there
in time to for onward journeys on Etihad and Jet. The airline has told the
ministry that as this model stabilizes after two to three years, it will
connect Europe also via Abu Dhabi.
In addition to the flights via Abu Dhabi, Jet has sought
more flying points in Europe like Paris, Zurich, Dusseldorf, Berlin, Amsterdam,
Manchester, Copenhagen and Barcelona to India. The airline expects a
substantial passenger load on these flights to be of passengers flying between
Europe and its other destination in Southeast Asia and China where it plans to
restart operations to Shanghai.
Since implementing this plan will require a substantial
addition to the fleet size, Jet has told the government that it will get back 5
widebody B-777s by next year that are leased to Thai Airways. The airline has
an option for five A-330s and is in talks with Boeing to place an order for
more B-777s. The Dreamliner B-787 will join its fleet from 2014.
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