Private airline Jet Airways is in talks with Lufthansa Group to float a wholly owned subsidiary for dedicated cargo operations.
Confirming the development, Jet Airways' chairman Naresh Goyal said, "We will be launching a dedicated cargo airline services by the end of 2007. We are seeking the help of Lufthansa to float the freighter service. We are planning to increase our cargo revenues to 10 per cent in the current financial year from 6 per cent. We have already appointed a senior representative from the American Airlines to supervise cargo operations."
Jet is also holding talks with Lufthansa for a possible tie-up for setting up an aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in India.
"We are in talks with Lufthansa Technik to set up a MRO facility in India. We are also in talks with to two other players. The location could be either Nagpur or Hyderadad," Goyal said.
Part of the Lufthansa Group, Lufthansa Technik, the world's leading provider for MRO for airplanes, components and engines, had earlier decided to set up an Indian base in Hyderabad in a joint venture with the GMR Group, the concessionaire of the airports at Hyderabad and Delhi.
Goyal said Jet Airways was interested in Lufthansa's Hyderabad project too. "We are exploring all possible routes. We are even talking to Boeing to assist in setting up an MRO. Funds for expansion will not be a constraint. We are talking to Citigroup and Barclays," Goyal added.
Jet CEO Wolfgang Pro-Schauer said the airline has already singed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Lufthansa for providing components, personnel assistance, maintenance management services and other engineering support for its Airbus 330 and Boeing 777 aircraft. Following the setting up of the European hub in Brussels, Jet will now set up a flight training academy in Brussels in association with a leading academy. It will train over 150 to 200 pilots a year for Jet and other foreign airlines. The airline plans to operate from Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Chennai to Los Angeles, Chicago and New York via its Brussels hub.
Besides, Jet is also exploring code sharing and special agreements with airlines such as South African Airlines and Kenyan Airlines. "We will be having special arrangements with South African and Kenyan Airlines for a through check-in. We will be launching daily flights to South Africa, in association with South African Airlines," Goyal added.