Jet to 'cooperate' with Air India for market share

New Delhi: Jet Airways will "cooperate" with Air India to capture a larger share of international air traffic as it does with other global carriers, the company's chairman Naresh Goyal said here Tuesday.

"Air India is doing a great job. It will be a very good airline," Goyal said as he announced the launch of his carrier's new five-flights-a-week service to Toronto via Brussels from Wednesday.

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"If we cooperate with Air India, the new Air India, we definitely can get a 50 percent market share. We look forward to cooperating with Air India," he added, as Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, listened with attention.

Air India has plans to become a large carrier with a dominant position in both the domestic and international segments after the merger with Indian Airlines that has the government's approval.

Goyal said Brussels will be the hub for his carrier in Europe and eventually proposed to serve at least 50 destinations either on its own or through partnerships with other carriers.

He said some of the destinations planned over the next few months include San Francisco, New York (Jet started its service to Newark in New Jersey last month) and Vancouver.

In the London-Delhi sector, Goyal said, Jet had cornered a 23 percent market share since starting the service two years ago. He expected a similar response from Toronto, given the one million people of Indian origin living in Canada.

Speaking about JetLite - the erstwhile Sahara Airlines that was acquired by Jet - Goyal said the restructuring of the carrier's finances and operations would break even before the end of this financial year.

He said JetLite will continue to operate as a separate entity, adding the idea was to bring its operating cost down. "We are also buying 2CRJ-900 aircraft to augment its fleet," he added.
Source: IANS