Jet Airways should fly smoothly on Dubai route

Air India, which used to operate forty direct weekly flights to Dubai, has brought the number down to around 15. Reason: the shortage of Airbus 310 aircraft. However, industry experts attribute the reduction to increased competition and margin pressures. Air India has shifted its fleet to longer haul routes following the entry of Jet Airways and capacity expansion by Emirates, while its low cost subsidiary AI Express focusses on the labour market.

Jet Airways and its subsidiary JetLite recently received the government's approval to fly to Dubai, ending Air India's long-standing monopoly on that route. Jet will start its Dubai flights from Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai by next month, according to company sources. Jet has also sought permission to start flights from Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Bangalore during the winter schedule next year. Jet Lite however, is not using its flying rights to Dubai for now.

"We have decided not to fly to Dubai now," said JetLite CEO, Maunu von Lueders.

Air India has reportedly decided to stop its direct flights to Dubai from Bangalore and Thiruvananthapuram and has already cut down on flights operating from Delhi and Mumbai. "The carrier used to operate a double daily from Mumbai and Delhi to Dubai. Those will be brought down to seven flights a week," a senior executive said.

However, civil aviation ministry sources said that, looking at the rising demand for connectivity to Dubai, the ministry has advised the national carrier to increase its full service operations in that sector.

Though Air India's low cost subsidiary AI Express has been steadily increasing its flights on the India-Dubai route, it will not be competing with Jet Airways.

"We mostly connect smaller cities such as Jaipur, Lucknow, Trichy, Nagpur, Mangalore and Kochi to Dubai and so Jet will not directly compete with us. Though we have flights from Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai, they are indirect flights. Our Chennai flights are operated via Trichy and Hyderabad, the Delhi flights go through Jaipur and Lucknow, while the Mumbai flight goes through Nagpur," said an AI Express executive.