Jet Airways mulls a slew of measures to increase profitability in adverse conditions

Mumbai: The country's largest private airline, Jet Airways, intends to reduce administrative overhead and improve manpower efficiency through a cost-cutting exercise. Jet chairman, Naresh Goyal, also said, ''We are looking into a pilot training school and a final decision will be taken soon.''

According to Goyal, the airline is also mulling setting up a maintenance hanger. He also said that the airline hopes to raise its online booking share further to 25 per cent in two years.

About reduction in administrative overheads, he said that company constantly conducts cost-cutting exercises.

Meanwhile, the carrier said that it is set to further expand its domestic route network from Sunday, when it commences daily services from Hyderabad to Tirupati and Rajahmundry. It will also introduce two new daily flights between Hyderabad and Chennai.

The two flights to Tirupati and Rajahmundry will provide connections to the incoming flights from Delhi, Bombay, Bangalore and Chennai at Hyderabad. 

The airline, which commands a 25 per cent share of the Indian market, is set to gain further from strong domestic growth in the sector. Though local air travel has dipped considerably in April this year, it grew 30 per cent in FY07 and is poised to grow 20 per cent over the next five years.

Jet operates scheduled services to over 50 domestic airports and on international routes including Colombo, Kathmandu, London, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, NewYork and Toronto. Currently, the airline earns close to 40 per cent of its revenues from international operations, and this is slated to go up to 50 per cent in three years.

Jet is slated to begin work on floating its $400-million rights issue, delayed from 2007 by turbulence in the financial markets. It is also set to raise another $400 million from the private placement of up to 10 per cent of Goyal's stake in the carrier.

The carrier is currently awaiting market conditions to stabilise.