Jet Air may not fly Bangalore-Brussels

MUMBAI: Less than a month after it started on the route, Jet Airways is planning to pull the plug on its flights between Bangalore and Brussels.

The airline has stopped accepting bookings for the Bangalore-Brussels-Bangalore route post January 12 on its website and on various ticketing systems.

According to sources, the flights saw weak loads and few advance bookings, prompting the airline to cut losses and exit the route.

Jet had connected the route for the first time on October 31.
The airline is also downsizing its aircraft on the Mumbai-Brussels-Newark sector, from a Boeing 777 to the slightly smaller Airbus A330, which would not have a first class cabin.

Saroj Dutta, executive director of the airline and Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, the chief executive officer, did not respond to calls.

With the Bangalore-Brussels flight, Jet Airways connected the IT centre of India with North American destinations like Newark, New York and Toronto through its scissor hub at Brussels.

The initial plan was to have four weekly flights — till December 14 — and daily flight from then on until January 15, 2009, to cater to the holiday rush.

The four-times-a-week schedule was to return from January 16.

Sources added that the airline might lease out six Boeing 777 aircraft to Turkish Airlines. It was reported earlier that the airline would lease out only four aircraft of the same type to the carrier.

All three Indian carriers flying on international sectors — Air India, Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines — have been re-evaluating their international plans.

High fuel prices and overcapacity in the initial stage and the on-going global slowdown of late has wrecked havoc with their ambitious expansion plans.

Indian carriers are expected to contribute almost one-third of IATA’s projected global aviation industry losses of $5.2 billion.