'Jet Airways is in active discussions with various investors'

In a bid to secure sustainable financing to navigate through current headwinds, Jet Airways is "in active discussions with various investors", an official said on Tuesday in a message to the airline's passengers.

"We are in active discussions with various investors to secure sustainable financing to navigate through the current headwinds and create long-term growth. There is interest in our strong brand and confidence in our business turnaround efforts," the airline's Chief Executive Officer Vinay Dube said in the message to its passengers.

Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group firms, had said discussions on acquiring a stake in the financially troubled Jet Airways have been at a preliminary stage and that no such proposal has been made so far.

Dube said the airline reviewed its network and is "deploying aircraft on more profitable, productive and economically efficient routes".

"With the peak season upon us, I am optimistic about our ability to build and accelerate revenue momentum even as we continue to review and improve our network," he said.

"Last week we declared our Q2 results for FY 2019. The tough operating environment for the aviation industry continues to impact us, and we reported a net loss of Rs 1,261 crore," he said.

"Reflecting on our ongoing efforts to reduce costs across the business, our relentless efforts to optimise costs have yielded over Rs 500 crore of savings in the first half of FY 2019."

He also said the airline would take delivery of another six new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft this fiscal and will leverage the same for better cost efficiency.

The private airline launched new services such as the Mumbai-Manchester non-stop flight and will soon be inaugurating its first daily, direct service from Pune to Singapore, as well as adding services and frequencies on select routes such as Bangkok, Doha, Dammam, Dubai, Kathmandu and Singapore, he added.

--IANS

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