begin air services from Aizawl

As the Air India pilots strike entered the fifth day on Sunday, Jet Airways began its air services between Kolkata-Aizawl-Guwahati. Jet Airways began the air services as many passengers were stranded in Kolkata, Aizawl and Guwahati. According to the Jet Airways sources, the 68-seater ATR aircraft services would operate between Kolkata-Aizawl-Guwahati and Guwahati-Aizawl-Kolkata every day. With the entry of Jet Airways in the lone Lengpui Airport near Aizawl, Mizoram now has the services of three airlines – Air India, Kingfisher and Jet Airways.

JetKonnect-Jet-Konnect

Flight travel is one of the happiest journeys in any individual’s life. There is always thrill and nervousness that would be lingering within an individual during the first flight journey. There are many airline providers which provide a happy journey to their passengers. One among them is the Jet Konnect. The Jet Konnect is a part of jet airways which serves with the motto ok customer satisfaction. It is only because of this, there is a strong customer base for the jet airways. Let us know about Jet Konnect and some of its salient features.

Generally the Jet Konnect flights operate to a wide area within the country. The Jet Konnect was initially launched in the year 2009 in the month of May. It started with a fleet of 8 flights which included the flights to the major cities in India like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. The Jet Konnect is generally considered to be the economic service of the Jet Airways. The parent airlines are structured 10 to 15 percent more than that of the Jet Konnect. It is generally named as the no frill airlines as there can be a purchase of meals and other snacks during the onboard journey itself.

This feature of Jet Konnect makes sure that even the common middle class man has the happiness of traveling in the flights. Jet Airways also has another low cost airline which is called as the Jetkonnect. The JetKonnect must not be confused with the Jet Konnect because, Jet konnect is also an economic airline but for the people of the higher class. The Jet Konnect has the reservations to be made online through the Jet Airways official website itself. Thus, one can say that the Jet Konnect is the cheapest among the low cost airlines

Salient features of JetKonnect

Low cost airlines have always been the call of the day and there are a plenty of airline providers who have opened up options for the low cost airlines within their parent airline. One among the parent airline is the Jet Airways and the low cost airline is the Jet Konnect. The Jet Konnect has proved to be the most featured economic low cost airline among the people in India. There are several options that are available in the JetKonnect from which the customers can choose. Also there is a possibility to book the tickets in JetKonnect six months in advance. Here, we can have a discussion about the salient features of the JetKonnect.

The Jet Airlines have the separate aircrafts for the purpose of JetKonnect which are the 2 tier aircrafts with the adequate comfort facilities. The flight numbers of these JetKonnect airways are unique so that there is a possibility for the passengers and the travel agents to identify the kind of aircraft. At present, the JetKonnect has the airlines to various destinations like Bhopal, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Jaipur and also to Kochi, Madurai, Mangalore, Mumbai, Pune, and Udaipur.

The main aim of this JetKonnect is to make the common man avail the flight services. With this wonderful motto, one can say that the JetKonnect for sure have entered into the hearts of public. The JetKonnect also has e-booking facility which enables the customers to easily book the tickets from home. The payment can also be made online. There are special deals and offers during the off peak season in the JetKonnect which can be availed. Since this is considered to be the no frill airlines, the meals and other eatables need to be bought during the journey time. Moreover, there is 24 hour customer care exclusively for the JetKonnect passengers who can be contacted in case of any general queries regarding the airlines. Recently the SMS help facility has been launched which offers help through messages.

 

Jet Airways had launched JetKonnect in June this year

Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways have converted around half their capacity into low-cost service. This has contributed to begining down the average fares of airlines as a whole by about 30 per cent, from about Rs 4,000 in September last year to Rs 2,700 currently, a key reason why the domestic passenger market is looking up after months of decline

The number of low-cost seats in the system has increased by over 50 per cent this year compared with the same period last year, said Mohit Shrivastava, head of online sales at Makemytrip.com an online tickets and hotel booking portal.

Among the full service carriers, the government carrier, Air India plans to launch a low-cost model in the domestic skies. Air India already has a low-cost airline called Air India Express which operates on international routes.

Jet Airways the oldest private airline in India, has also increased the number of low-cost seats in the system by around 50 per cent. This does not include the seats offered by JetLite, which could take the number of total low-cost seats being offered to around 65 per cent. Jet Airways acquired Air Sahara in April 2007 and renamed it JetLite. Jet Airways have increased the number of low-cost seats in the system by around 50 per cent. Jet Airways had launched JetKonnect in June this year and that contributed to most of it, said a source in the airline.

Apart from full service carriers shifting capacity from full service to LCC operations, the LCCs are also increasing capacity in anticipation of better times. Indigo has increased the total number of seats by around 40 per cent in the past year. During the same period last year, Indigo had a fleet of 16 aircraft, which has now been increased to 22. SpiceJet has also increased the number of seats by 53 per cent, not by increasing the number of aircraft but by raising the number of flights.

Air India slashed Airfares up to 8 percent

Soon after the halt in its pilots’ protest, Air India has come out with discounted fares to win back lost customers. The national carrier that is slowly limping back to normalcy after the four-day strike, said there will be a maximum of 8 percent cut in fares for 3-6 months in different categories. Air India airline had lost around Rs 84 crore in cancellations during the strike period. In a move similar to Jet Airways’ measures after its own pilots strike, Air India placed advertisements in national newspapers welcoming travellers back and offered discounts, where passengers can save up to Rs 3,000 in different plans.

Air India is offering schemes where a passenger can buy a four-coupon economy class ticket for Rs 41,316 with a validity of three months for single user, a drop of 8 percent compared to the earlier fare. Similarly, an eight-coupon economy class single user tickets can be bought for Rs 82,632 with a validity of six months.

The Maharaja, as the carrier is also called, has introduced different plans for corporate houses, where employees can buy corporate tickets in the economy class with 12 coupons, for Rs 1,23,948 having six months validity, with multiple user facility. A 12-coupon executive class multiple user ticket with a validity of six months will cost Rs 1,66,800. It means an employee can use at any date like an open ticket.

A passenger can save around Rs 2,000-3,000 per coupon in the offerings, said an Air India spokesperson. The tickets under these schemes are available for sale till October 31. Lowest fares on domestic flights will be available to larger number of passengers, as the number of seats has been increased in the reservation system, he added.

Recently, Jet Konnect had offered a 50 percent discount on total fare economy class on all domestic flights across Jet Airways and Jet Konnect, too woo back customers who went to competition due to the pilots strike.

The measures, however, are not likely to benefit the carrier in the long run, while they may increase load factor immediately, say analysts. The company posted losses of Rs 7,200 crore in the previous fiscal year. With borrowings of Rs 15,000 crore, the cash-strapped carrier has asked for loan and equity infusion from the government. Its current equity capital stands at Rs 145 crore

Jet Konnect Airways

Jet Airways currently operates a fleet of 84 aircraft, which includes 10 Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft, 12 Airbus A330-200 aircraft, 48 next generation Boeing 737-700/800/900 aircraft and 14 modern ATR 72-500 turboprop aircraft. With an average fleet age of 4.60 years, the airline has one of the youngest aircraft fleet in the world.

Flights to 63 destinations span the length and breadth of India and beyond, including New York (both JFK and Newark), Toronto, Brussels, London (Heathrow), Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Colombo, Bangkok, Kathmandu, Dhaka, Kuwait, Bahrain, Muscat, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Jeddah, Sharjah and Riyadh

Jet Airways, India’s premier international airline, will launch its second daily flight to Hong Kong from India, with daily services on the Delhi-Hong Kong sector aboard its state-of-the-art wide-body Airbus 330-200 aircraft, effective September 30, 2009

Jet Airways Konnect is Jet Airways’ no-frills Economy Class service on key domestic routes, designed to meet the needs of the low fare segment.

Jet Airways Konnect links five major metros- Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru and Kolkata – with several destinations across India.

Jet Airways Konnect currently operates over 130 flights daily

Jet Airways Konnect, Jet Airways’ all-economy no-frills service, will operate over 180 daily flights across India by 1 October with the introduction of services on several key domestic routes throughout September.

Demand for the low fare, high quality services of Jet Konnect booking has been a major force in driving the introduction of the new flights. Previously operated by Jet Airways konnect booking, the services will be aboard Boeing 737-800 aircraft. This further enhances the existing network linking five major centres – Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru and Kolkata with several destination across India.

JetLite is also a wholly owned subsidiary of Jet Airways India Ltd. and was acquired by Jet Airways in April 2007. Positioned as an all-economy airline, JetLite promises to offer value for money fares. JetLite currently operates a fleet of 23 aircraft, which includes 16 Boeing 737 series and 7 Canadian Regional Jets 200 Series. The airline flies to 28 domestic destinations and 2 international destinations Kathmandu and Colombo, currently operating 115 flights a day, on average.

Jet Airways, with the acquisition of JetLite, and along with its Economy Class Jet Airways Konnect service, today has a combined fleet strength of 107 aircraft and operates over 449 flights daily.

Services related to aviation sector too have taken a hit

As the aviation sector scrambles to cut its 2 billion dollars about Rs 9,600 crore losses by resorting to cost cuts and re-negotiating deals, all related businesses from catering services to in-flight equipment providers are feeling the pinch as well.

Whosoever is able to provide us with the best service at the best price gets the contract, says an Air India official. For instance, he says, as there are 2-3 vendors for digital in-flight entertainment, the airline can easily secure the best bargain. This, however, goes for all airlines. It is not a subjective situation but an objective one. All airlines at this point in time are negotiating and revising expenses incurred and services rendered, he says.

And the revisions are substantial. The airline used to spend about Rs 100 on a meal for an economy-class passenger and Rs 150-200 for a business-class passenger. Now with the changed scenario, the same meals are contracted for Rs 80-120. Worse, the conversion of full-service flights to low-cost carriers has affected our business, says a senior manager at a leading airline catering service provider.

A 15-20 per cent drop in catering orders has been seen in the past few months. Jet Airways alone has decided to withdraw seven aircraft in order to convert them into low-cost carriers. Kingfisher Airlines too, has reduced its price per meal by 20-25 per cent. This adds up to a loss of several crores for the catering major.

Meanwhile, Jet Airways will continue to convert more of its full-service carriers to its low-cost Jet Konnect service, where food is sold on board, like at IndiGo and SpiceJet. Air India too is negotiating cost reductions in its in-flight services as it converts its full-service fleet to the low-cost Air India Express. For instance, last year, we asked newspapers for bulk order rates now, we do not pay more than 40 per cent of the cover price for the papers, adds the official at Air India.

There have not been many changes in terms of ground handling. But Jet Konnect has cut staff by 2,000 people and sources in Jet Airways say another 2,000-odd including attrition would gradually be eased out.

Air India is not laying off as of now and Kingfisher could not be reached to comment on this issue. Airhostess training institutes that were thriving in the boom have also been forced to revise their estimates. Airlines such as Jet Konnect and Kingfisher Red have stalled recruitments even though low-cost carriers continue to recruit freshers. The dip in the aviation industry has definitely affected other related sectors, says Sapna Jain, director of Air Hostess Academy. The growth of the aviation sector did not turn out to be the way we expected due to problems beyond our control. But Jain says the pay packages offered by airlines have not seen any changes at all.

If this trend continues, we expect to lose anywhere between 35 and 40 per cent of our aviation catering business in the domestic market in the year 2009, says an official from a catering company. That is a big figure. Only government intervention at this point in time can reverse the trend and ensure the continuity of full-service flights. But that’s not likely to happen