Jet Airways is to launch its daily services to Newark in the United States with A340-300E (enhanced) aircraft from June 23.
The Naresh Goyal-promoted airline, which is beginning flights to London from May 23, will launch its flights to Newark via Brussels a month later, chief executive officer Wolfgang Prock-Schauer told reporters in Mumbai.
The airline, mainly a Boeing operator, has taken three Airbus A340-300E, is taking four more Airbus A330-200 aircraft from May next year for expanding its international operations. Prock-Schauer said the airline was expected to be ready with its fleet expansion report within the next six months and both Boeing 777s and Airbus A330-A340 are in the running.
These will include the ultra-long haul aircraft but not the Airbus A380, he added. He said Jet Airways, which launched its daily flights to Singapore last month and is due to introduce Chennai-Kuala Lampur service from May 18, has already tied up with Boeing for 737 jets for induction between 2006-07.
Slide Show: Jet set to fly to the UK
Faced with a shortage of commanders, the airline has already taken 10 foreign commanders/instructors for its London operations and would be taking in 30 more once flights to US are introduced, an airline official said.
During the year about 100 more pilots would be taken to meet the demand of expanding operations, he added.
On competition from the newly launched Kingfisher Airlines, Prock Hchauer said it would not impact the airline in any way.
"Our fares are competitive and in some sectors it will be lower than our competitors," he added.
He said the airline carried eight million passengers in last fiscal, a 16 per cent growth compared to the previous fiscal, and has a market share of 16.43 per cent.
The first of the A340 arrived last week and two more are expected shortly. Flying training for its pilots to meet the minimum requirement is to be held at Chennai for three days.
The airline is offering Rs 23,000 as its introductory fare to London and back till May 31 in the 296-seater aircraft in a two-class layout.
The Premiere business class seat offers 32 flat bed seats while the economy class offers eight abreast seating.
