Recently, Jet has bagged rights to fly out of Shanghai, so in addition to Brussels, it will develop that as a new hub. Prock-Schauer and many industry analysts see this as a coup; not only will the airline develop a new route, it will fly to the US through Shanghai, saving on flight time. Permissions, he says, are taking time to come through, but the approval is on course.
With respect to expansion areas, Jet plans to focus on North America, the UK, specific points in Continental Europe, Gulf (rights to fly to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, both lucrative sectors, are expected soon), ASEAN, China including Hong Kong, and South Africa.
"At a later point of time, the market to Australia and certain markets in north Asia are of interest," says Prock-Schauer. In addition to this, Jetlite, the airline's cheaper option, has applied for rights to fly to the Gulf and Thailand, approvals for which are expected soon.
Along with expanding destinations at a frenetic pace, Jet Airways is tying up various code shares with different carriers - a critical part of the strategy, say Jet officials - around the globe to offer seamless connectivity with more destinations.
Image: Jet Airways vice president, flight operations, Captain Gustav Baldauf (L) watches CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schauer cut a cake in the shape of the airline
Photograph: Indranil Mukherjee/AFP/Getty Images
Also read: All about the Bengaluru International Airport
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