Thursday, March 26, 2009

Investor Wilbur Ross wants grand 3-way alliance in skies

Mumbai: Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross is trying to stitch together a mega alliance in the skies to create India’s second-largest airline, according to a top aviation industry executive.
This top executive who did not wish to be named told ET that Ross, who had pumped money into SpiceJet last year, is now working towards bringing on board — Jetlite and GoAir. His eventual plan, the official said, is to integrate the three low-cost carriers to create a combined entity which will command a market share of around 22.5%, way ahead of Indigo, which is currently the largest low-cost airline with 13.2% market share. Currently, Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines is India’s largest carrier with a 27% share of the Indian skies.
But a financial integration at this stage may be difficult and discussions may centre around operational synergies. The whole plan, of course, hinges on Jetlite and GoAir being amenable to such a proposal. For the moment, both appear disinterested.
Wilbur Ross could not be contacted despite repeated attempts. An e-mailed and faxed query remained unanswered. Telephone calls went to his voice mail box. Sanjay Aggarwal, CEO SpiceJet, neither confirmed nor denied the move.
But some other aviation industry executives said Ross has already initiated preliminary discussions to drive home the point that the next round of consolidation in the Indian aviation industry is inevitable and it is in the best interest of all the three bleeding carriers — SpiceJet, GoAir and Jetlite — to come under a common umbrella.
26/03/09 Rumi Dutta Hardasmalani/Economic Times
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