Jet Airways on Tuesday said it’s in talks to start a cargo airline in the South Asian nation. “We will make an announcement before the end of 2007,” Naresh Goyal, Chairman of Jet Airways, told reporters here. “We are talking to very, very serious partners on starting a cargo airline.”
The carrier plans to start a cargo airline in 18 to 20 months for domestic and international operations, Saroj Datta, Jet’s Executive Director, said in an interview on July 31. The move comes as state-run Air India began a cargo service earlier this year as part of a revival plan which involved a merger with Indian Airlines to regain market share from Jet. Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Jet Airways are in talks to form a cargo JV, Handelsblatt said June 15, citing Goyal. The venture will be called Jet Cargo, the German newspaper said. Lufthansa Cargo, the Cologne, Germany-based carrier’s freight unit, confirmed the talks and added Jet Airways isn’t the only potential partner it’s negotiating with, Handelsblatt said, citing an unidentified spokesman at the unit.
Jet’s plan to raise $400 million by selling shares to existing shareholders will be delayed by 2-3 months as it was waiting for the “right” market conditions, Goyal said. The company had originally planned the share sale in October. The board of Jet approved on June 26 the share sale plan to purchase new wide-bodied planes from Boeing and Airbus SAS.