Hit by a laptop ban in the US, on flights originating from West Asian airports, Jet Airways has expanded its codeshare agreement with Virgin Atlantic for the US-India routes. The aim is to bypass Abu Dhabi, with London’s Heathrow airport as an alternative.
The US government last month banned the use of all electronic items larger than a cell phone on flights from certain destinations. The ban covers laptops, tablets, e-readers, portable DVD players, gaming devices larger than a smartphone, and travel-size printers and scanners.
The policy covers only non-stop flights to the US from 10 airports in West Asia and North Africa, including Dubai and Abu Dhabi, hitting Emirates and Etihad Airlines severely.
Jet Airways, partly owned by Abu Dhabi-based Etihad, currently flies to the US via Abu Dhabi. The ban therefore impacts its US-bound traffic.
Passengers have already been switching to Air India so that they can continue working on their laptops on 14-17 hour-long flights to the US.
Nine destinations From April 19, Jet passengers travelling from India can go via Heathrow to nine US destinations — Atlanta, Boston, Newark, Washington DC, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco and Seattle — operated by Virgin Atlantic.
The move builds on the existing agreement between Jet and Virgin, in place since 2009, enabling Virgin customers to travel on Jet operated services between Mumbai and London Heathrow in addition to the airline’s own direct Delhi to London service. In 2015, the codeshare was extended to Jet domestic services, allowing Virgin customers to travel between Heathrow and five destinations across India via Delhi or Mumbai.
Gaurang Shetty, whole-time Director at Jet, said: “The new codeshares build on the success of our ongoing cooperation with Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic over London Heathrow and will provide our guests with more connectivity to and within the United States.”
Shai Weiss, Chief Commercial Officer for Virgin Atlantic, said: “This innovative codeshare allows customers to tailor their journey using a combination of flights from Jet Airways, Virgin Atlantic and their transatlantic partner Delta Air Lines — whilst continuing to benefit from a single check-in and bag drop.”
In October last year, Delta and Jet announced a codeshare cooperation between India and the US over Heathrow, where Delta customers flying between North America and India can connect on flights operated by Jet to 20 destinations within India.
“Delta’s codeshare with Jet Airways has seen positive growth in passenger numbers since we launched the agreement six months ago, reflecting the strong demand for air links between the United States and India,” said Nat Pieper, Delta’s Senior Vice-President for Europe, Middle East, Africa and India.