Fare hikes to follow rise in fuel prices: Jet

"The aviation industry has to raise the fares as and when the hikes come. I am not in a business where I should only look for capacity. At the end of the day, I will have to work to give profits to my shareholders," he said here.  Crude prices have been on a record run lately and touched $135 a barrel, immensely increasing the cost of jet fuel (ATF).     

Goyal was speaking to reporters after taking static delivery of a brand new Airbus A-330-200 at the Berlin Airshow ILA, which started today. Jet Airways has placed orders for a total of 10 A-330-200 to operate on long-haul routes.  To questions regarding acquisition of the world's largest airliner A-380, Goyal said: "At the moment, we are not ready but we are studying the proposal."     

He said Jet Airways was "seriously studying" Airbus Industrie's A-350 XWB (Extra Wide Body) aircraft whose deliveries would begin from 2013. "We don't place orders just for the sake of it. For us, frequency is important."      The A-350 XWB are a medium capacity long range aircraft. A-350-800 would carry 270 passengers, while A-350-900 would be able to accommodate 314 and A-350-1000 would have a capacity of 350.     

Goyal said though Jet had a "good amount of market share, but that does not mean we have room for complacency."