Jet Airways

Jet Airways of India has placed an order for 7 additional Boeing 777-300ERs last week thus increasing its commitment from 13 to 20 of this popular aircraft model. Three of these planes would be delivered to the airline by Winter 2009 as the carrier looks to embark on an ambitious international expansion before its main rivals i.e. Air India and Kingfisher gain a stronger hold in UK and North America.

Analysis :

What will be interesting to see is whether or not all 20 B 773ERs ordered by 9W will see a fancy 3 class layout or will some have a 2 class configuration as many people don't see the need for all of its EU/North America flights warranting a first class cabin.

Lets examine how the B 773ERs could be used :

2 used for daily EWR2 used for daily JFK

2 used for double daily BOM-LHR1 used for daily DEL-LHR

2 used for future daily BLR-BRU-LAX (summer 08)

2 used for future daily BOM-PVG-SFO (summer 08)

That makes 11 B 773ERs designated for current and future routes which have been mentioned many times in media outlets worldwide. This means there are 9 B 773ERs to play around with. They can be used in the following manner :

2 used for daily IAH...i.e. 4 weekly DEL-BRU-IAH + 3 weekly BOM-BRU-IAH

2 used for daily HYD-BRU-IAD

The main reason why IAH should be divided between DEL & BOM is because these 2 markets need extra service from 9W as the demand is there especially in the peak summer season (June-Sept) and winter (Nov-Jan). In order for 9W to increase and at the same time protect its market share from its 2 main Indian gatway cities i.e. BOM & DEL, it must increase capacity to meet growing demand to USA from these 2 market segments otherwise it will steadily lose out. Already AI offers triple daily BOM-NYC + double daily DEL-NYC flights + BA too flies double daily to both cities and soon Kingfisher will become a key player in this competitive segment.

2 used for daily same plane service LHR-BLR-SIN because the B 773ER has a larger number of high yielding premium class seats compared to its A 332s. 9W can easily make money on the LHR-BLR route (in all 3 cabin classes) which is currently dominated by BA who make a hefty profit flying it. 9W should consider using 2 aircraft for daily same plane SIN-BLR-LHR as SIN-BLR is a "premium route" capable of seeing high J class loads and a little bit of F here and there. The flight schedule can be as follows if LHR slots can be obtained :

Dep LHR 1500 Arr BLR 0600+1

Dep BLR 1000 Arr SIN 1630...i.e. 4 hr transit at BLRDep SIN 2230 Arr BLR 0200+1..plane gets parked in SIN for 6 hours which is ok.

Dep BLR 0600+1 Arr LHR 1200+1...i.e. 4 hr transit at BLR

The remaining 3 B 773ERs should be configured in a 2 class layout seating 370 passengers approximately as the Middle East routes forecasted for them below do not warrant having a first class cabin on board. Currently, 9Ws B 773ERs seat 312 pax in a 3 class configuration.

1 aircraft for double daily BOM-DXB-BOM...one forsees this happening in the near future (subject to DXB-India bilateral liberalizing). 9W has a better in-flight premium cabin product than EK does on its A 332s / B 772s which fly BOM-DXB-BOM and therefore stands to gain a good chunk of the premium traffic on this lucrative route.

Flight schedule can be as follows :

9W 600 Dep BOM 1100 Arr DXB 1230

9W 601 Dep DXB 1400 Arr BOM 1815

same aircraft can then be used for the night flight BOM-DXB-BOM which will arrive into BOM early morning next day thus providing excellent connections through 9Ws domestic India network i.e.

9W 602 Dep BOM 2100 Arr DXB 2230

9W 603 Dep DXB 0030+1 Arr BOM 0445+1

1 aircraft can be used for a daily DXB-DEL-DXB + daily DXB-BLR-DXB (subject to DXB-India bilateral liberalizing)

Dep DXB 0300 Arr DEL 0730

Dep DEL 1030 Arr DXB 1215

Dep DXB 1400 Arr BLR 1930

Dep BLR 2100 Arr DXB 2330

1 B 773ER can be used for daily MAA-DXB-MAA + daily HYD-DXB-HYD (subject to DXB-India bilateral liberalizing)

Dep DXB 0330 Arr MAA 0900
Dep MAA 1200 Arr DXB 1430

Dep DXB 1630 Arr HYD 2130
Dep HYD 2330 Arr DXB 0130+1