Jet Lite, Jet Konnect to merge by May

Jet Airways, the country's largest private sector air carrier, today said it would complete the merger of its two low-cost models - Jet Lite and Jet Konnect - under a single brand by May.

"We are contemplating brand merger of Jet Lite and Jet Konnect. Jet Lite will cease to exist by April-May. We expect capacity addition in low cost models as well," a Jet Airways official told financial experts here.

Currently, the two no-frills brands that Jet operates are JetLite, which it bought from Sahara group, and Jet Konnect.

The official further said capacity addition would not be a concern for next 12-15 months.

"Out of our 100 aircraft fleet, 40 is owned and 60 is on lease. FY13 will see revenues remaining flat and may see 5% capacity addition," he said.

Also, the company said it expects to sell and lease off 77 aircrafts in Q4. "This will help pay off working capital loans and debt pay off. We have not taken any extension of lease expiry."

The company, which posted a loss of Rs 101 crore in the quarter ending December, also said that higher fuel prices and depreciating rupee would continue to be a cause of concern.

"Higher fuel prices and depreciation of rupee have impacted company's operations. ATF prices and rupee depreciation continue to be a cause of concern. These are some uncontrollable event in the short run," it said.

Jet Airways on Friday posted a net loss of Rs 101.22 crore in the December quarter of 2011-12, against a net profit of Rs 118.23 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal.

The company said during the quarter, international operations was weighed down by high operating cost.

"During the third quarter, loss from domestic operation was Rs 41 crore, and that from international operation Rs 61 crore. Share of international revenue to total revenue was 55%," it said.

As at March 31, 2011, the debt burden was Rs 13,680 crore, the company said, adding that by December 31, it had gone up to Rs 14,079 crore. It attributed the increase to the depreciating rupee.