Air Sahara on Thursday announced it would fly its first chartered, non-revenue flight to Colombo on Friday, saying it would launch direct services from Mumbai and Chennai and link other metros after necessary government permission is granted to it.
Three major domestic airlines on Friday announced revised fares, including those under the advance purchase schemes, following abolition of the Inland Air Travel Tax which amounted to 15 per cent of the total airfare.
The airline has two operating permits and offers both full service and no-frills service in the domestic market.
The airline will reconfigure its planes to add business class seats in its low-cost service
The government's contention was that Sahara Airlines Ltd (now JetLite) was promoting the real estate and housing business and area operations of Sahara India Commercial Corporation.
Unless Naresh Goyal pulls the proverbial rabbit out of his hat or reveals an unexpected ace of spades, the airline he built from scratch - many refer to it as "his baby" - may slip out of his grasp, says Anjuli Bhargava.
Value-carrier JetLite, formerly full-service airline Air Sahara, which was bought by Naresh Goyal last year, will offer a voluntary separation scheme to 750 employees who have been with the airline for one year or below, Chief Operating Office Rajiv Gupta confirmed on Friday.
Jet Airways announced the launch of a new all-economy, no-frills service called Jet Airways Konnect starting May 8.
Air India and Jet Airways are planning to leverage their extended domestic networks following a merger (with Indian Airlines) and acquisition (of Air Sahara), respectively, to offer small-city travellers free connectivity for international flights.
Jet is believed to be in talks with leading private equity players.
National Aviation Company, the name of the proposed merged entity of Air India and Indian Airlines, plans to launch a value carrier to take on the challenge from JetLite and Air Deccan.
Jet Airways on Thursday said it would introduce more flights on both its domestic and international networks.
Jet's supremacy has now been challenged by a nimble and aggressive Kingfisher which, in just two years and following Mallya's buyout of Air Deccan, is commanding the same market share as Jet Airways and Jetlite.
Jet-Sahara deal: HC asks govt for documents
Following the entry of Tata-SIA and AirAsia into the Indian aviation market, the domestic aviation industry is seeing increased interest from private entities.
Sources said Sahara filed a case in the Bombay High Court a few days ago on non-payment of dues. According to sources, Jet was to pay Rs 900 crore to Sahara upfront, while Rs 137.5 crore was to be paid in yearly instalments over four years. Jet defaulted on the yearly instalment, they said. The source added that Jet's payout to Sahara in case of a single year's default could be Rs 550 crore.
JetLite, which was acquired by Jet Airways for Rs 1,450 crore, is operating three of its seven Canadian-built Bombardier airplanes. JetLite has a total 24 aircraft, including Boeing B737s.
The government on Tuesday asked all domestic airlines not to impose Rs 150 surcharge being levied for traffic congestion in airports.
JetLite is the new brand name of Lucknow-based airline Air Sahara after Jet Airways acquired it for Rs 1,450 crore in April this year.
The guidelines would also enable the proposed merger of national carriers Air-India and Indian.\n
For Jet's revival, Mr Jalan should be on the scene long enough for everyone to get to know him, appreciate his skills, and not vanish into thin air within a matter of months or even weeks, observes Anjuli Bhargava.
Despite its global market share of 60 per cent, Bombardier has made no break-even deals with Indian companies yet.
Jet Airways, which has acquired Air Sahara for Rs 1,450 crore (Rs 14.5 billion), needs to shell out Rs 800 crore (Rs 8 billion) immediately to rejuvenate the loss-making airline and take charge of it.
A resurgent SpiceJet is spreading its wings and Vistara is set to challenge Jet on long-haul routes in the coming years.
A district court on Friday deferred till July 29, the hearing on Air Sahara's petition regarding its failed takeover by Jet Airways and extended the interim order on freezing the escrow account opened for the purpose.
The proposed $400 million rights issue of Naresh Goyal-promoted private airline Jet Airways will hit the capital market by mid-October.
The government is taking the first steps towards opening of the Gulf region to private airlines -- by setting a high-level committee under the aegis of the aviation ministry -- to examine the contentious issue.
Domestic airlines are keen to bring China into their network as the latter is set to become the country's top trade partner in the coming years.
Airfares of most major airlines will go up by Rs 150 per sector from Friday, as the carriers plan to levy a traffic congestion surcharge.
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