Jet launches economy-class service, Jet Airways Konnect

Jet launches economy-class service, Jet Airways Konnect

Jet Airways yesterday said it was replacing 19 domestic routes with a new all economy-class service.

The new service, named Jet Airways Konnect, which is parallel to its low-cost arm JetLite, would have 54 flights daily from across 19 domestic sectors, Jet Airways' Chief Commercial Officer Sudheer Raghavan told reporters here.

"Jet Airways Konnect has been designed to meet the needs of the low-fare segments. It would compliment Jet Airways'full service product by providing a service that is better suited to cater to the market that desires an economically priced low-fare product," Raghavan said.

The new service offers a no-frills economy-class service where travellers would be offered attractive and competitive low fares on specific routes, he said."The fares would come down by 12-15 per cent. So the math is in the right ball-park," Raghavan said.

Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Kochi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Udaipur, Bangalore, Pune and Mangalore are among the 19 routes that Jet Konnect will fly to.

Raghavan, however, said that while there was a lot common in the operational models of the two - JetLite and Jet Airways Konnect - there would be no overlapping as far as their routes were concerned.

" There would hardly be any overlap between JetLite and Jet Konnect. And even if there is any, we will ensure that the timings are such that there is no confusion and no cannibalisation," the airline official said.

Admitting that the on-going recession had forced the airline to replace its full-service carrier with an all economy-class service on certain routes, Raghavan said," Recession has played a significant part in this decision. But when there is a demand for a full service, we will definitely re-start it."

Jet Airways also said that the new service would not incur any cost."All we are doing is branding. It involves no extra cost," he said.

Raghavan, however, did not divulge the savings on meals that the airline would be making, saying that,"I can't share (that) with you - how much we are going to save or earn."