Sunday, June 5 2005 19:10 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: Strongly denying that it has any terrorist links, Indian private airliner Jet Airways today (Jun 5, 2005) said it would sue the American aviation company with a similar name that had made such allegations.

In a statement in Mumbai, Jet Airways said the allegations that India's premier domestic airline has links to "undesirables" and that the Indian carrier has been directly financed since 1991 by some other undesirables was "outrageous."

Denying all allegations, Jet Airways said the American company was attempting to "besmirch" its reputation which had amounted to outright harassment.

"We have taken a serious view of these allegations," Jet Airways said adding, that it has filed for a detailed reply to the objection along with application for operations permit and exemption order which is being processed by the US Department of Transport.

"Investigations show that Jet Airways Inc is just a shell company with no business activity much less airline business," the statement said.

The primary motivation of Jet Airways Inc in filing the objection arises out of a trade name claim made by them that is currently being addressed before the US Patent and Trademark Office, the statement said.

The private Indian airliner is scheduled to launch its operations to the US with a flight from Mumbai to Newark via Brussels on June 23.

In its application, Jet Airways Inc claims the first use of the mark on December 1, 2002. There is substantial evidence of pervasive use of the mark in the US by Jet Airways (India) Ltd since 1995, the statement said.

"As such there are strong grounds for the cancellation of prior registration by Jet Airways Inc by the US Patent and Trademark Office. We are advised that under the US law, such no-use of the name does not entitle Jet Airways Inc to any rights of protection," it said.

Jet Airways Inc is thus "attempting to block the Indian carrier's application only because of its bogus claims to our name. Whilst the objection preponderantly is based on the bogus claim to the trade name, it has also made scandalous, scurrilous and baseless allegations regarding alleged links of Jet Airways (India) Ltd with undesirables," it added.

Maryland-based Jet Airways Inc, which is yet to commence airline operations, had filed a petition with the US Transport Department that if the Indian carrier is allowed to operate in the US "then we will once again have the Al Qaeda flying and controlling aircraft over American cities".