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Jet signs deal with Boeing estimated at $1.5 billion
By siliconindia
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Wednesday, 03 January 2007, 18:30 IST
Mumbai: Jet Airways Ltd. are planning to spend about $1.5 billion in a bid to expand its international operations. It has finalized a purchase agreement with Boeing to acquire 10 Boeing 787-8 series wide-body aircraft.
For its international operations the company plans expansions from India, to key destinations, including US, Canada, UK, South Africa, Kenya, Mauritius, places in China and South East Asia, apart from certain places in Europe like Rome, Zurich, Munich and Frankfurt.
International operations of Jet Airways accounted for 17 per cent of the revenue of the company in the second quarter of the current fiscal, with the commencement of two new routes Amritsar-London-Heathrow (three times a week) and Delhi-Singapore (daily). The company has also renewed its focus on route-level partnerships with major carriers to provide seamless connectivity, like the agreement with Qantas on the Delhi-Singapore route.
Currently, Jet Airways operates a fleet of 59 aircraft reaching about 49 destinations across the country and overseas, including Colombo, Kathmandu, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and London.
The current acquisition of aircrafts is to be delivered between July 2011 and December 2012, subject to regulatory approvals, the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.
The company has made known of plans to invest about $2.5 billion over the next three years in new aircraft. A senior official of the airline gave an insider view that the company had not yet finalized the means of funding the acquisition, as the aircraft will be delivered from July 2011.
Significantly, under the agreement, the company also has the option to substitute other models of Boeing aircraft. The company begins taking delivery of the 10 B777-300ER and another 10 A330-200 aircraft, which were ordered in September and October last year respectively, in March-April 2007.