Jet Airways to expand fleet, announces Chennai-Paris service

Leading private airliner Jet Airways (India) Ltd will be ordering 75-100 narrow-bodied aircraft in a few months' time as part of its fleet expansion plans, said a top company official on Wednesday.

"We are planning to order 75-100 narrow-bodied aircraft. We plan to place an order by the end of this year. Today we have around 90 narrow-bodied aircraft. We are yet to decide on who to place the order with," Vinay Dube, CEO, Jet Airways (India) Ltd, told reporters here.

He was here to announce the starting of direct flights -- five times a week -- to Paris from Chennai.

Queried about the mode of funding the order, Dube said that he was not in a position to disclose it now.

Speaking about the Chennai-Paris direct service, Dube said that it would be a non-stop flight with codeshare partners -- Air France, KLM and Delta Air Lines.

The service, which will commence on October 29, will be for five days a week excluding Tuesday and Wednesday.

"This flight will connect the guests to as many as 50 destinations in Europe and 20 onwards in North America, highlighting our continued focus to expand connectivity from South India to meet the growing demand for travel from the region to Europe and North America," Dube said.

Jet Airways will deploy its Airbus A330-300 aircraft on the route.

The new service also enhances the Jet Airways' cargo capacity between Chennai and Paris by as much as 15 tonnes, enhancing trade in a variety of commodities such as flowers, perishables, pharmaceuticals, heavy machinery, auto parts, garments, as well as electrical and medical equipment, the airline said.

"The launch of this direct service will also surely facilitate corporate travel from French and Indian industries that are based in Chennai and encourage corporate houses from the South of India to plan their next incentive/corporate movement in our capital," said Alexandre Ziegler, French Ambassador to India.

"More and more women are travelling to France. The country is also attracting families. There are lot of vegan food options in France now. France is also a wedding destination for Indians," said Sheetal Munshaw, Director India of Atout France - France Tourism Development Agency.

Jet Airways 9W 128 will depart Chennai at 0145 (local time) and arrive in Paris-Charles de Gaulle at 0810 (local time). The flight duration is 9hr 35min.

Jet Airways 9W 127 will depart Paris-Charles de Gaulle at 2210 (LT) and will arrive in Chennai at 0015 (LT).

--IANS

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