Jet Airways will begin flights from Toronto to Delhi in August on a route that Air Canada has discontinued from this month. Jet Airways [Get Quote] (India) Ltd will begin five flights a week from Toronto through Brussels, destined for New Delhi beginning August 23, a senior General Manager for the airline, Abraham Joseph, said.

The Indian carrier aims to deliver daily service by the end of October as part of a major push into North America, he said. "We had Canada in mind ever since we got permission to fly overseas," Joseph said adding, "we have a market here with a lot of people travelling to India on business or for vacation. We are hoping to capture a good market share of this traffic."

Jet Airways expects to get its licence to fly into Canada within the next few weeks. Hemant Shah, President of Cubex India and leading aviation professional, who runs a pilot training school in Winnipeg said that it would help 710,000 citizens of Indian descent who have been demanding excellent customer service that matches international service standards, and boost trade links between the two countries.

But even with that base, providing profitable flights to India has proven difficult in the past. Air Canada has attempted routes to Mumbai and New Delhi four times.

The latest attempt through London to New Delhi was discontinued on May 1. "The market just wasn't there," said Peter Fitzpatrick, Air Canada spokesman.