The airlines are also keen on clinching new routes, which are operated by Jet Airways and Air Sahara separately. After the proposed merger of Air Sahara with Jet, some routes would be released as part of their rationalisation of routes.
"We are looking at new routes arising out of Jet Airways - Air Sahara consolidation and more infrastructure facilities at airports to park aircraft," said a top executive of a private airline.
Meanwhile, private airlines are adding more capacity and offering new destinations.
Low-cost carrier SpiceJet would add new routes to its existing network. This would include Bangalore-Chennai, Bangalore-Mumbai, Bangalore-Kolkata and Kolkata-Chennai.
SpiceJet Chief Executive Officer Siddhanta Sharma said the new routes would be operational from March 27. The airline has announced opening of bookings for the month of April-May with special low fares for 51,000 additional promotional seats.
Madurai-based Paramount Airways is planning to add new routes, including Bangalore-Chennai and Delhi-Guwahati from February 15.
"We are planning to increase our daily flights to 20 by March and take the number to 40 by June. We will be having five more aircraft by that time. At present, we operate eight flights," said M Thiagarajan, managing director, Paramount Airways.
The Wadia Group promoted GoAir is also planning to launch four new destinations, including Baroda, Kochi, Pune and Indore. It is also eyeing Chennai-Pune and Pune-Ahmedabad sectors. This will increase the carrier's presence to 14 cities with 30 flights per day.
GoAir Managing Director Jeh Wadia said the airline was planning to acquire seven aircraft by September and to connect to all key cities by the end of the year.
"We are exploring options to commence operations from cities such as Thiruvananthapuram, Nagpur, Bhubaneshwar, Srinagar, Jammu, Delhi and Kolkata in a phased manner," said Wadia.
Another low-cost carrier Air Deccan, promoted by Captain G R Gopinath is also adding seven new routes which will take their total airports connections to 52.
"The airline is adding services including Mumbai-Rajkot, Mumbai-Aurangabad, Mumbai-Jamnagar, Bangalore-Kozhikode, Chennai-Trichy, Chennai-Thiruvananthapuram (via Kochi) and Banglaore Thiruvananthapuram," an Air Deccan executive said.
Kingfisher Airlines had recently launched services to Mumbai-Mangalore.
"We are planning to fly to unique routes such as Delhi-Kolkata, Kolkata-Jaipur, Kolkata-Ahmedabad and Kolkata-Goa," said Vijay Mallya, chairman and managing director, Kingfisher Airlines.
