Jet Airways plans new trips abroad with Boeing 737 Max planes
MUMBAI: Jet Airways plans to fly to new destinations in Africa and CIS countries with its soon-to-be-delivered Boeing 737 Max planes, a senior executive said recently.
The Boeing 737 Max, the latest version of the American plane-maker’s narrow-bodied 737 plane family, can cover distances up to 7 hours, compared with 5.5 hours on its immediate earlier version, the 737 Max NG, or new-generation planes.
“There are some markets that automatically enter into discussion with the Maxes.
A couple of markets in Africa become possibilities.
If you stretch it, CIS countries from Delhi become possibilities,” Raj Sivakumar, senior V-P of network planning and revenue management at India’s second biggest carrier by market share, told ETin an interview.
CIS, or Commonwealth of Independent States, include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Takikistan and Uzbekistan. Associate states are Turkmenistan and Ukraine.
Sivakumar didn’t, however, specify destinations that Jet is looking to introduce.
An exploration of new international routes is essential for Jet which has taken a hit on its Gulf operations for the past two years.
Sivakumar admitted there’s ongoing pressure on the routes and that Jet has decreased capacity to the Gulf in the past one year, especially by cutting flights to Abu Dhabi.
“The Max offers a longer stage length. And it also offers better payload (capacity at a given weight of the plane) on the existing stagelengths,” he said. The Max will increase Jet’s seating capacity for a narrow-bodied plane by 5% to 174 seats.
The Boeing 737 Max, the latest version of the American plane-maker’s narrow-bodied 737 plane family, can cover distances up to 7 hours, compared with 5.5 hours on its immediate earlier version, the 737 Max NG, or new-generation planes.
“There are some markets that automatically enter into discussion with the Maxes.
A couple of markets in Africa become possibilities.
If you stretch it, CIS countries from Delhi become possibilities,” Raj Sivakumar, senior V-P of network planning and revenue management at India’s second biggest carrier by market share, told ETin an interview.
CIS, or Commonwealth of Independent States, include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Takikistan and Uzbekistan. Associate states are Turkmenistan and Ukraine.
Sivakumar didn’t, however, specify destinations that Jet is looking to introduce.
An exploration of new international routes is essential for Jet which has taken a hit on its Gulf operations for the past two years.
Sivakumar admitted there’s ongoing pressure on the routes and that Jet has decreased capacity to the Gulf in the past one year, especially by cutting flights to Abu Dhabi.
“The Max offers a longer stage length. And it also offers better payload (capacity at a given weight of the plane) on the existing stagelengths,” he said. The Max will increase Jet’s seating capacity for a narrow-bodied plane by 5% to 174 seats.
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