India's Jet Airways to open Brussels hub
Thursday May 3, 2007
Jet Airways will establish a European hub at Brussels Airport, the expanding Indian carrier announced yesterday.
Jet anticipates operating up to 10 daily flights through BRU within two years, launching service from Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Chennai to Los Angeles, Chicago O'Hare and New York JFK via its new hub in addition to the daily Mumbai-BRU-JFK and Delhi-BRU-Toronto flights scheduled to start later his year.
"Now the people of Belgium no longer have to feel they can't have their own long-haul carrier without having to subsidize it," Jet Chairman Naresh Goyal joked, adding on a more serious note that the carrier has been "looking for an opportunity to combine its expansion plan to the US and Canada with an efficient hub in Europe together with a strong national carrier offering a wide network. . .We have found it all at Brussels."
Jet and Brussels Airlines signed an MOU covering codeshare flights, a frequent-flier partnership and check-through facilities. SN will place its code on Jet's flights from BRU to Mumbai, Delhi and Toronto and Jet will start with SN flights to Stockholm-Bromma, Oslo Gardermoen, Birmingham, Geneva and Madrid, with expansion likely.
CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schauer told ATWOnline that Jet chose BRU over London Heathrow, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Amsterdam and Frankfurt, which lacked attractive morning slots and offered cumbersome transfers, especially at LHR. The eagerness of BRU, privately owned since 2005, to add new long-haul destinations and the absence of a strong competitor also played in its favor. He confirmed that the airline received a "good" marketing and support package "within the EU framework of what is allowed." He expects 70%-75% of the passenger traffic between India and the US via the hub to be sold at either end, with the remainder European feed.
The European hub fits in with Jet's international expansion plan. It is taking delivery of 10 777-300ERs and 10 A330-200s through October 2008, and one of each was at BRU in new livery and configuration. The carrier also has ordered 10 787s. It currently serves six international destinations, growing to 15 by October, according to Prock-Schauer.
Jet is not interested in buttressing its international network through alliance membership in the short term, he said. It grew systemwide ASKs 35% in the financial year ended March 31 and will raise capacity by up to 50% in the current FY, which he said "makes us one of the fastest-growing 'mature' airlines in the world." He also revealed that he expects the restructuring of Air Sahara into JetLite to be finalized within "some months."
by Cathy Buyck
ATWOnline