In a move that would give Jet Airways a cutting edge advantage over its rivals, the country's largest private carrier is likely to move a large part of its international operations to Munich in Germany by the year end, said two people familiar with the development.
Those in the know of the matter also said the development is a precursor to the Naresh Goyal promoted airline joining Star Alliance, one of the biggest airline alliances in the world that flies over 600 million passengers around the globe annually.
Jet already has a European hub in Brussels, in Belgium which it established in 2007 and it might reduce operations considerably to the European city or slowly shift base to Munich, the exact strategy of the airline for its scissor operations at Brussels could not be ascertained immediately.
Jet Airways spokesperson said the in a reply to The Economic Times query that the story is speculative while Jet's CEO, Nikos Kardsis declined any such move being contemplated by the Indian carrier. Another Jet senior official Sudheer Raghavan also said that the query is speculative.
But the 35 new flights to Munich requested by Jet Airways from the ministry of civil aviation for its winter schedule tell a different story. The move comes at a time when the ministry has allowed private carriers to have equal rights with Air India for international operations.
Jet's shift in favour of Munich can also be gauged from its recent application when it applied for an additional flight from its current hub at Brussels that came with some great sops in airport charges and an interline agreement with Brussels airlines.
Jet currently operates 200 international flights daily with a fleet of 101 aircraft and is said to be looking to add some more wide-body aircraft to its fleet as and when the market conditions stabilise.
In terms of revenues, Jet Airways earns almost 60% of its revenues from international operation, second to Air India that has about 70% of revenues from international flights.
Jet's preference for Munich over Brussels clearly springs from the fact that Munich fits well with Jet's scheme of expansion within Europe with flights to Milan, Paris and other routes.
Source: The Economic Times
