Jet Airways suspends services to 13 international routes till April-end
What's the story
Jet Airways, on the verge of going belly-up, has suspended operations on as many as 13 more international routes till end-April even as it grounded seven more planes due to non-payment of rentals, taking the number of such aircraft to 54.
Besides, the airline has also reduced frequencies on seven other overseas routes, mostly from Delhi and Mumbai, according to airline sources.
Here's more.
Statement
Additional seven aircraft grounded due to non-payment of amounts: Jet
The airline, in a filing to stock exchanges, said yesterday, "... an additional seven aircraft including two planes of JetLite, have been grounded due to non-payment of amounts outstanding to lessors under their respective lease agreements."
The company said that as mentioned earlier, it's actively engaged with all its aircraft lessors and is regularly providing them with updates on efforts taken to improve liquidity.
Information
Temporarily suspended: Pune-Singapore, Pune-Abu Dhabi and Mumbai-Manchester routes
Earlier, sources said routes, where services have been temporarily withdrawn, include Pune-Singapore (seven a week), which was launched with much fanfare late last December, and Pune-Abu Dhabi (seven flights a week). Jet Airways has already suspended services on the Mumbai-Manchester route.
Reduction
Only one-third of 119 Jet Airways fleets are operational now
Gasping for funds and no bailout on the horizon, the Naresh Goyal-controlled airline has now reduced its operations to one-fourth from over 600 daily flights earlier, with just one-third of its 119 fleets being operational.
The airline has discontinued services from Delhi to Abu Dhabi (nine a week), Dammam (14), Dhaka (11), Hong Kong and Riyadh (seven each a week) up to April 30.
Int'l routes
Services will remain suspended till April 30: Airline source
Besides this, the airline has also suspended services on the Bangalore-Singapore route, where it flies twice daily, till April 30, said the airline source.
The flights which have been suspended from Mumbai for this period include services to Abu Dhabi (12 weekly), Bahrain (4-7 weekly), and Dammam (14 weekly).
These services will remain suspended till April 30, as per the source.
Others
Services from Delhi, Mumbai to Kathmandu, Bangkok, Doha reduced significantly
Similarly, flights on the Mumbai-Hong Kong (7 weekly) route will also not be operated between March 23 and April 30, while the Kolkata-Dhaka services have also been suspended till April 30, said the source.
In addition to this, services from Delhi and Mumbai to Kathmandu, Bangkok, Doha, Kuwait, and Singapore have been also reduced significantly, it further stated.