Jet Airways will turn its focus this year to its low-fare business to take on smaller budget airlines that have grown exponentially in recent years.
For the low-fare focus, the airline will rename JetLite as Jet Airways Konnect by April. Both are existing all-economy brands, but JetLite, which was Air Sahara before Jet bought it in 2007, is run under a separate subsidiary as per a report in Mint by P.R. Sanjai & Tarun Shukla.
“The merger of balance sheets is not contemplated as (of) this moment,” said Shivkumar - Sr. VP Finance, adding that as passengers will have clearly defined options—one full-fare and the other budget - to chose from. “We will be focusing a lot on JetLite business this year,” he added.
With a market share of 20%, low fare airline IndiGo became the nation’s second largest airline by market share beating Air India and Kingfisher Airlines Ltd, both full service airlines. SpiceJet, the second-largest low fare carrier, has a market share of 16.1% for the December quarter.
“The brand value of Jet Airways Konnect will be more after branding and we will be able to charge more,” said K.G. Vishwanath, vice-president, commercial strategy and investor relations, Jet Airways.
JetLite will remain a legal entity, a shell company that will continue to own the planes operated under Jet Airways Konnect.
