After low-cost merger, Jet to hold 2 licences

Consultants say the plans are a step in the right direction. “Two airline licences will allow Jet Airways to be present on trunk routes through both airlines,” said a consultant with a global consultancy and tax advisory firm. He can’t be quoted as his firm doesn’t comment on individual companies. “Smaller full-service operations will allow Jet Airways to focus on select routes without having to expand and deploy excess capacity on smaller routes.”

As per current route disbursal guidelines, airlines are required to deploy a tenth of their capacity on trunk routes like Delhi-Mumbai, on non-metro routes of category II routes.

Jet Airways is also planning to expand its low-cost operations overseas. At the moment, its sole overseas low-cost flight is to Kathmandu via JetLite.

JetLite will complete five years of operations by the end of 2012. Air Sahara, under whose licence JetLite operates, also had the permission to fly internationally in 2004. Thus, regulatory issues will not prevent Jet from flying a low-cost airline on international routes.

However, experts are skeptical: “Historically, across the world, the airline-within-an-airline concept has not worked,” said Nawal Taneja, professor emeritus in the department of aviation, Ohio State University, who has written several books on aviation strategies. “Qantas succeeded with Jetstar because since its launch in 2004, Qantas allowed it to be managed independently and follow its own growth trajectory.”

Former Jet Airways executive director Saroj Datta said that operators have

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