Jet Set For US Landing

Jet Airways will be the first private Indian carrier to fly to the US. The government recently gave the airline permission to to start three flights a week to New York via Brussels from April. "This follows the air services agreement between India and the US recently," said a civil aviation ministry official.

It is also expected that the government will allocate more flights on the US route when it draws up its 2005 winter schedule. This move is a major boost for the Indian private carrier as the US is one of the largest markets for carriers and will give Jet Airways an early-mover advantage over other Indian private carriers like Air Sahara on this route.

Air Sahara, which is also eligible to start services to the US, has not sought permission to start flights. "We did not seek permission this season. We are looking at the next winter schedule," said an executive at Air Sahara.

The government's decision is part of its plans to open up international services to Indian private carriers. It has already allowed Jet Airways to start daily services to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and London. Besides, the government has also allowed Air Sahara to start daily services to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur and three flights a week to London.

The airline industry is of the view that once other private airlines are also allowed to start flights to the US, the capacity on the route will at least double. It may be recalled the recent liberalised air-services agreement between India and UK has led to capacity on the routes increasing to 80 flights per week from 32 flights per week.

The government is of the view that the time has come to revise the old agreement with the US according to the needs of the hour and in keeping with the relationship between the us and India. Sources said that talks would be held with the US aimed at providing more access to carriers from two countries to each other. This means, in addition to more flights, more cities would be opened to airlines from two countries. Currently Indian carriers are allowed to fly to four US cities of New York, Newark, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

The air-services between the two countries are currently governed by an agreement entered in 1956. This agreement, civil aviation ministry officials said places restrictions on the number of airlines flying between the two countries, cities that can be served, the frequency of service and pricing.