The Hindu : Front Page : Jet Airways touches down in China

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Monday, Jun 16, 2008
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Jet Airways touches down in China

Ananth Krishnan

SHANGHAI: Jet Airways on Saturday became the first Indian private airline to launch flights to China, starting a service that will connect the thriving financial hubs of Mumbai, Shanghai and San Francisco.

With trade between India and China growing by more than 50 per cent last year to $38 billion, the airline was looking to tap the rapidly expanding business traffic between the two countries, Chief Commercial Officer Sudheer Raghavan told The Hindu. He was speaking hours before the airline’s first flight from Mumbai touched down at Pudong airport here late on Saturday night.

Mr. Raghavan said Jet Airways was also looking to establish a strong presence in China beyond Shanghai. The airline is currently in talks with several Chinese air carriers, including China Eastern Airlines, Air China and Shanghai Airlines, to set up codeshare arrangements to other destinations in China, and also to the United States.

“We are definitely not going to stay in one city,” he said. “Subject to the availability of air services rights, we ourselves will seriously look at cities like Beijing and Guangzhou. As China’s second-tier cities become successful financial and commercial centres, we certainly will look at opportunities to fly there.”

Mr. Raghavan stressed that the airline was not relying on traffic from India to fill the seats. “It is not going to be a flight that is largely dominated by the U.S. and India,” he said. “Eventually, we hope to have a balanced contribution of 30 per cent from each of the three countries.”

Jet Airways, however, remains a largely obscure brand in China, and Mr. Raghavan admits the airline will face a tough task to change the poor reputation Indian air carriers still have overseas. The airline will also face stiff competition in the Shanghai-San Francisco sector.

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