Jet Airways plans new flights to Dubai

Mumbai: Starting April 23, private airline Jet Airways will launch two new services to Dubai from Mumbai and Chennai in an effort to tap one of the few remaining profitable international sectors for Indian air carriers.
The airline’s introduction of a new mid-day service from Chennai as well as a second flight from Mumbai departing in the morning comes at a time when the air carrier has been rationalising its other international routes because of the global downturn.
The airline in January discontinued its recently launched flight from Mumbai to Shanghai and San Francisco. International traffic to the United States, Europe and Southeast Asia has been badly hit by the recession, with several airlines cancelling flights and rationalising routes. Traffic to West Asia has also been affected, analysts say, but remains one of the few sectors where air carriers might find some relief.
“It seems that this region has in some sense withstood the crisis, at least relatively,” said D. Sudhakara Reddy, president of the Air Passengers’ Association of India.
Mr. Reddy said while airlines had been pulling out flights from Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, cancellations on West Asian routes had been rare.
“Emirates even increased flights last year, and no airline has significantly reduced its frequency. It’s good for passengers, as fares are coming down,” he said.
The new services were introduced to match the high passenger demand in this sector, Jet Airways CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schauer said in a statement. Jet Airways already operates two daily flights to Dubai, from Mumbai and New Delhi.
11/04/09 Ananth Krishnan/The Hindu

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Categories: Foreign Apr 2009, Jet Airways Apr 2009