Private carrier Jet Airways wants to fly to Toronto from Bangalore but lack of positive response from the HAL airport may just force the airline to look at Chennai as the alternative.
“We have applied for a slot to fly from Bangalore to Toronto from November but there has been no response (from HAL airport and Airports Authority of India),” the carrier’s executive director Saroj K Datta told Deccan Herald.
Jet sources later pointed out that the airline may well have to consider Chennai as the next option.
‘Not aware’
Sources in Bangalore airport, however, said they were not aware of the Jet application.
“I have heard this proposal but there has been no proposal before us,” a senior official said.
The sources, however, added that it has become difficult to start any new international service from Bangalore as the international check-in area was almost choking. “We are in a tight spot.”
The Delhi-Toronto flight would be the latest in the slew of international flights that Jet is scheduled to operate.
The airline launched the Mumbai-New York (Newark) route on August 5. Jet has pressed into service a brand new Boeing 777-300 ER (extended range) aircraft with a capacity to carry 312 passengers in a three-class layout on the Mumbai-New York route.
On the Delhi– Toronto flight, it will operate an Airbus 330-200 aircraft, which has been especially configured for international operations with 30 seats in Premiere Class and 190 seats in the Economy Class.
Jet Airways has plans to operate flights from Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Chennai to Los Angeles, Chicago and New York (JFK) via its Brussels hub, sources said.
Among its other plans include the Chennai-Los Angeles sector and a Mumbai-San Francisco flight via China besides linking Washington D C.
Jet, which currently flies to New York, Brussels, London Heathrow, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Colombo, Bangkok and Kathmandu, also plans to extend its international operations to North America, Europe, Africa and Asia in phases with the introduction of wide-body aircraft into its fleet.
