Indian domestic carrier Jet Airways has applied for government approval to firm up options for three additional ATR 72-500 turboprops. Meanwhile, the airline's regional jet evaluations are focusing on 70-seaters, such as the Bombardier Canadair CRJ700, the Embraer ERJ-170 and the Fairchild Dornier 728JET or 928JET (Flight International, 23-29 May).
The additional ATR 72-500s would be taken on a five-year operating lease, between November this year and March 2001, under similar conditions to its current ATR fleet, executive director Saroj Datta said at the Shephard Group's Asia-Pacific Regional Aviation conference in Kuala Lumpur earlier this month.
Jet Airways operates five ATR 72-500s, which were introduced into service last October. Datta says there are no plans to change the 737 fleet, which comprises 25 737-400/500s and 737-700/800s.
The 928JET is the favoured candidate in the regional jet evaluations. "The 928JET is closer to what we are looking for, because we have a business class configuration," says Datta. If chosen, the 928JET would be configured for about 75 seats, while the 728JET could be configured for about 65.
Talks with the airframe manufacturers are under way, with the airline aiming to finalise an order by the end of March 2001. The airline is understood to have a requirement for up to 25 aircraft.
The airline operates to 31 domestic destinations and had a 38% market share by the end of last year, competing against Indian Airlines and Sahara India Airlines. Datta says passenger traffic growth in India, which averaged an annual 12% in the early 1990s, has remained stagnant since 1995, averaging 1.1% growth a year until 1999, which saw an increase of 4.2%, to 12.4 million passengers. Jet Airways estimates growth will remain marginal over the next five years at about 3-5% a year.
Source: Flight International
