THE Indian subcontinent, home to 1.21 billion people, will soon resume its connection with the Philippines once the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) grant its stamp of approval to Jet Airways, a “legacy” carrier, meaning it provides full service such as food, ticket counter booking and first-class accommodations.
CAB Executive Director Carmelo Arcilla made the announcement yesterday, saying that Jet Airways also has a pending application with the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines.
Jet Airways is a major Indian airline based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, the second-most populous city after Uttar Pradesh. Maharashtra is the richest state in India, contributing 15 percent of the country’s industrial output.
Meanwhile, AirAsia will start service between Clark and Malaysia by the end of October or early November this year, using two brand-new A320s, Arcilla added.
Jet Airways, meanwhile, will utilize an A330 or a bigger aircraft to its proposed Mumbai-Manila route, according to its CAB application.
Manila was once linked to Mumbai via Philippine Airlines (PAL) in the 1980s, and Indian flag carrier Air India, but the services on both sides were terminated.
Last April, PAL inaugurated its maiden flight to New Delhi, with a B757 servicing the route.
Jet Airways is India’s largest airline and the market leader in the domestic sector. It operates over 400 flights daily to 76 destinations worldwide.
Its main hub is Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, with secondary hubs at Delhi, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Pune and Kolkata. It has an international hub at Brussels Airport, Belgium.
Jet Airways is owned by Naresh Goyal, an Indian businessman, with 25 years of experience in aviation. His net worth is reported to be $2.2 billion.
According to its application, Jet Airways will fly initially Manila four times weekly to test the market and develop the route.
In October 2008 Jet Airways laid off 1,900 employees, resulting in the largest layoff in the history of Indian aviation. However the employees were later asked to return to work.
On the same year, Jet Airways and rival Kingfisher Airlines announced an alliance which primarily includes an agreement on code-sharing on both domestic and international flights, joint fuel management to reduce expenses, common ground handling, joint utilization of crew and sharing of similar frequent flier programs.
