India's Air Sahara is seeking to lease 30 more Boeing 737s over the next three years as it works to rebuild market share lost to other airlines in the first half of the year.
Air Sahara president Alok Sharma says that the carrier is already in talks with major leasing companies to lease the aircraft. Its fleet currently comprises 27 aircraft, most of which are 737s and all of which are leased.
Sharma says the 30 additional aircraft it is seeking to lease are for growth purposes and they will be in addition to 10 new 737-800s for which it confirmed an order with Boeing last week. The order was the first for new aircraft in the carrier's history and deliveries are due to begin in 2009.
"Between now and 2009 we need 30 more aircraft to get to the size we aspire to," says Sharma, who adds that the carrier is seeking to expand its domestic operations by 25-30% annually over the next few years and international operations by more than 60%, in terms of available seat kilometres.
Sharma says that in addition to expanding to cater for growth amid fast-increasing demand in the Indian market, the airline needs to win back market share lost to other airlines in the first half of the year, during which it was subject to a takeover by Jet Airways.
Parent company Sahara Group agreed to sell Air Sahara to market leader Jet in January for $500 million, but the proposed deal collapsed in June.
Sharma says Air Sahara's domestic market share was around 12-13% when the deal was announced, but it has now fallen to around 8-9%.
"Our first goal is to get back our market share which we lost," Sharma says. "My plan is that by December 2006 our market share should be as good as what it was in December 2005."
Source: Flight International
