Sindhu Bhattacharya

New Delhi: Jet Airways’ plans of making Shanghai a hub for its US operations have hit a roadblock, with the Chinese Government’s reluctance to grant permission.

Jet, which is currently flying to two destinations in the US (New York and Newark) via Brussels, has been planning to take the alternate route via Shanghai to connect San Francisco with Mumbai.

But the Chinese Government’s reluctance could well delay Jet’s ambitious plans.

Speaking to news agencies on Wednesday, the Chinese ambassador to India, Zhang Yan, acknowledged that there were some “technical” problems to be sorted out before his country allows Jet to operate flights.

“The government of both sides and competent authorities are discussing these things. There is some progress and some more progress will be seen in this regard.”

The ambassador’s comments come after India has already allowed Chinese cargo carrier ‘Great Wall’ to operate flights to various Indian cities, as per an understanding reached between the two nations during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s recent visit to Beijing.

Initially, the Indian Government had declined to allow Great Wall to operate flights to Chennai and Mumbai, citing security issues, but relented after Singh’s visit.

Jet executive director Saroj Datta refused to comment on the issue, while CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schauer remained unavailable.

Permission to use Shanghai as a base for flying to US is important for Jet for many reasons. Take the case of Air India, the only other domestic airline to operate flights to the US.

Realising the importance of catering to the US market, Air India has recently begun direct flights from New Delhi and Mumbai to New York and would be launching a direct Bangalore-San Francisco later this year.

Already, US operations have become the biggest overseas revenue generator for the state carrier so unless Jet offers customers a better flight path and competitive fares to the US, its load factors on this crucial sector could suffer.

Meanwhile, officials in the civil aviation ministry pointed out that Naresh Goyal has already purchased two aircraft for enhancing flights to the US but these are now idling for want of permission to fly via China.

Industry experts point out that not only is Jet planning to make Shanghai a hub for US operations, the company is also looking at operating nonstop services sometime later this year.

Source : DNA