From ATWOnline
Jet Airways of India is in final talks concerning an order for up to 15 long-haul aircraft to replace and supplement three A340s leased from South African Airways and four new A330s that will be leased from ILFC beginning next April. Jet is evaluating aircraft such as the A340-600 and 777-300ER and availability of delivery positions in 2007 is a key criterion, CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schauer told ATWOnline in Tokyo at the IATA AGM. "Our priority is to expand our long-haul operation," he said. Jet will increase its daily London flight to thrice-daily as soon as possible; "We just bought two more slots at London Heathrow, one from United," Prock-Schauer revealed. The airline also plans to add cities such as Manchester or Birmingham and swap widebodies for the 737s currently being operated on some Asia routes, such as to Singapore. Prock-Schauer prefers to open new routes to China instead of Japan, along with routes to Africa such as Durban and Nairobi. Services to France and Germany are desired as well. But the next step, he said, is to launch nonstop flights to New York as soon as possible. "We start with six weekly flights via Brussels to New York on June 23. We have not decided if we will go to JFK or Newark," but Jet will codeshare on the flights with Continental Airlines, which has a hub at Newark. He would not confirm reports that Jet will lease two A340-500s from Emirates, but sources close to both carriers confirmed to this website that Jet is in talks about the deal and aircraft should be available for the coming winter.