Indian private carrier Air Sahara would begin flights to south-east Asia by March-April 2005 and long haul operations to London by September-October this year.

In the first phase, the airline expects to start operations to south east Asian destinations like Hong Kong, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

"However, this is subject to government approvals," said Rono J Dutta, chief executive officer, Air Sahara. The airline expects to have services to about eight international destinations by the year-end and is in the process of obtaining the government's permission.

To meet its growth target, Air Sahara also plans to induct at least 11 more aircraft in the next few months to take its fleet strength to 32. This will be a mix of regional jets as well as wide-bodied large aircraft.

"We have 21 aircraft now and we will have 32 by July this year. Negotiations for six additional aircraft have been finalised and talks are going on for five more, including wide-bodied ones," Dutta said.

Dutta is of the view that it can use its existing fleet to service most of the South East Asian destinations, but will require larger aircraft to fly to destinations like London.

Besides, Air Sahara expects to start international operations from Indian cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad in the fist phase. In the second phase, operations will also start from cities like Kolkata to international locations like Bangkok.

Dutta also said that the airline to have about 700 seats in the international routes once the operation become a full-fledged.

According to Dutta, "We are prepared to launch simultaneous flights to the South East Asian destinations from Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Kolkata. We plan to operate to Bangkok from the eastern metropolis."

He also said that the carrier has managed to get some slots at various international airports.

Claiming that the airline's performance in terms of passengers carried, reliability and profitability had seen new heights in the past few months, he said that the airline is also looking for tie-ups with international carriers.