The Hindu Business Line : Jet Airways' first flight through Brussels scheduled in August

Vancouver June 6 Jet Airways plans to utilise the newly created hub at Brussels airport to not only offer Indian passengers immediate connections to the US, Canada and various points in Europe, but also an alternative route for passengers from Australia, US and Africa to visit India, the airline's Chairman, Mr Naresh Goyal, has said.

"The Brussels hub will allow passengers from anywhere in India to travel to their final destination in Europe, US and Canada merely by changing the gate. Initially, we will offer services from Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad to Brussels from where passengers can connect not only to John F. Kennedy airport in New York but also to Newark airport. We will also operate to Chicago, Toronto and Los Angeles through Brussels. Indian passengers wanting to travel to the British Midlands Birmingham, Glasgow, Coventry and several other cities will be able connect on Brussels Airways flights," Mr Goyal told Business Line during an interview. The airline's first flight through Brussels airport, which would travel onwards to Newark, is scheduled for August this year.

Mr Goyal is in Vancouver to attend the 63rd annual general meeting of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The airline plans to have flights from the five Indian cities to the US and Canada fully operational in the next eight months, latest by the summer of 2008, Mr Goyal said.

The hub, which was inaugurated by the Prime Minister of Belgium recently, will also provide Jet Airways the opportunity to carry passengers from Africa, Europe and the US to India. At present, traffic from these regions travel to India on European or US carriers.

Currently, Jet has been given five slots a day at Brussels. Mr Goyal, however, feels that there is tremendous opportunity at Brussels. "The airport has been built to handle 30 million passengers annually although it is currently handling only 16 million," he pointed out.

The airline decided on Brussels, as slots were difficult to secure at several European airports including London, Paris and Frankfurt. Similarly, with the modernisation programme at Delhi and Mumbai airports unlikely to be completed till 2010, there was a feeling that the global expansion plans drawn up by the airline could be hampered.

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