The Hindu Business Line : Jet, Sahara can also fly to Dhaka, Kathmandu

IN a further opening of the international skies for the private sector airlines, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has given its nod to Jet Airways and Air Sahara to t fly to Kathmandu and Dhaka.

Sources confirmed to Business Line that the two airlines have been allowed to operate daily services to Kathmandu from Delhi and from Kolkata to Dhaka.

"We will launch operations within four weeks. The new flights will be put into the reservation system 15 days before the flights are to start," the Chief Executive Officer, Air Sahara, Mr U.K. Bose, said. The airline, which is expected to take a decision of acquiring new wide-bodied aircraft shortly, plans to utilise its existing fleet to launch these two new flights.

Similarly, a spokesperson for Jet Airways indicated that the airline was likely to start operating to Kathmandu by the end of this month and was likely to start operating to Dhaka in early May.

In effect, the latest DGCA communication means that the private sector domestic airlines have now been allowed to operate regular flights from India to three of the six countries that are members of the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation. Apart from India, the other six SAARC member states are Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bhutan and the Maldives.

Late last month, the two private sector domestic airlines launched operations between Chennai and Colombo within hours of one another, thereby signalling the start of their international operations. Air Sahara, which is to launch daily flights between Bangalore and Colombo later this week, has also indicated that it plans to extend the Colombo flight to the Maldives.