Tuesday, January 4 2005 20:06 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Expressing confidence about the success of its expansion plans, Air Sahara today (Jan 4, 2005) said it would begin operations to Southeast Asia by March-April subject to Government clearances, and induct at least 11 more aircraft in the next few months to take its fleet strength to 32.

"We have 21 aircraft now and we will have 32 by July this year... Negotiations for six additional aircraft have been finalised and talks are going on for five more, including wide-bodied ones," Air Sahara CEO Rono J Dutta told reporters.

Claiming that the airline's performance in terms of passengers carried, reliability and profitability had seen "new heights" in the past few months, he said following the Cabinet decision to let private carriers fly abroad, Air Sahara had sought Government permission to launch flights from Indian metros to Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur as also to London.

Replying to questions, Dutta said, "We are prepared to launch simultaneous flights to the Southeast Asian destinations from Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Kolkata. We plan to operate to Bangkok from the eastern metropolis."

"We are looking at flying to Southeast Asia before the summer schedule (March-April) and to London after that (September-October). It all depends on when and where the Government allows us to fly," he said, adding that the airline had succeeded in getting "some slots" at Heathrow.