The Hindu Business Line : Air Sahara firms up plans for Asean, London flights

AIR Sahara has drawn up a major expansion plan, which will see it offer non-stop flights from several Indian cities to not only to Singapore, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur but also to London.

"The airline is kind of ready to launch operations to the Far East. If we get Government permission, then it would take us about four months to start operating to destinations like Singapore, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur. The flights to the Far East will be non-stop and we look at offering connections from at least two or three cities within the country. However, starting operations to London will take a little longer as slots at the airport is an issue," the Air Sahara President, Mr Rono Dutta, said onboard a flight from Delhi to Hyderabad.

Mr Dutta said for the present, London would be the only destination in Europe to which the airline will operate flights. The airline has already held "preliminary" discussions on getting slots at London's Heathrow airport. However, he refused to say whether Air Sahara was holding talks with an airline using the airport or the British airport authorities to get slots in the UK.

While the airline plans to utilise the Boeing 737-800 aircraft to launch flights to destinations in the Far East, it will choose between the Boeing 767-300, Boeing 777 and the Airbus A-330 for launching operations to Europe. "The airline will get three more Boeing aircraft, including two Boeing 737-700, by May next year. In addition, we are talking to lessors for other aircraft although nothing has been firmed up on the number that we will take, apart from the three which will join the fleet by May next year," Mr Dutta said. The additional number of aircraft that the airline acquires would also depend on the routes to which it is allowed to operate, he said.

The Union Government has already indicated that private sector airlines will be allowed to start operating on more international routes in the near future.