Jet Airways to enhance connectivity to Gulf region

Mumbai, Jan 30 (PTI) Bolstered by high passengervolumes on its Gulf network, private carrier Jet Airways islooking at enhancing connectivity to the lucrative region fromthe coming summer, an airline source said.

"Encouraged by the increasing traffic on the Gulfroutes, we are mulling to launch some new sectors in ournetwork," a Jet Airways source told PTI on condition ofanonymity.

The airline plans to add one flight on Mumbai-Dubairoute, he said, adding services to Sharjah from Mangalore andThiruvananthapuram are also being worked out. "We plan tointroduce these services from the coming summer season."

Jet Airways currently operates two daily flights fromMumbai and one each from Delhi and Hyderabad to Dubai.

The proposed flights are expected be serviced by theBoeing 737-800 aircraft, he added.

Jet Airways, which currently has a fleet of 93aircraft, plans to add 49 more planes in the next five yearsto expand its domestic and international network.

Coming out of the global meltdown, when passenger airtraffic fell significantly and airlines reduced capacity, thedomestic air traffic clocked a 16 per cent growth in 2010.

According to industry estimates, the passenger trafficis expected to touch 60-million mark this year as against 45million in 2009.

Recently, Jet Airways Chairman Naresh Goyal said hewas expecting a 15 per cent rise in the domestic and another15-20 per cent in the international passenger traffic.

"Jet Airways is also expected to grow on similarlines," Goyal had said.