Thursday, January 19 2006 10:07 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: In a major takeover, Jet Airways is understood to have signed a deal with Sahara late yesterday (Jan 18,2006)night.

The amalgamation would make Jet Airways the biggest airline in the country, Jet sources said when contacted.

Saroj Datta, Executive Director of Jet declined to reply to queries whether Jet has bought over Sahara airlines The deal presumed to be of over Rs 2,000 crore was understood to have been signed in Lucknow by Jet Chief Naresh Goyal and Sahara supremo Subrata Roy.

Goyal, along with his team, flew down to Lucknow last evening, cancelling some of his scheduled appointments for the purpose.

Sahara officials including the spokesperson Abhijit Sarkar could not be contacted for comments.

The Air Sahara brand is likely to be scrubbed, sources said adding some adjustments are understood to have been made regarding Air Sahara's liabilities like the sponsorship of the Indian Cricket team.

The deal was signed today at 0300 hours, sources said.

The deal will have to be vetted by various authorities including the Directorate general of Civil Aviation.