• PAGE ONE
• INDEX
• HOME

Alliance Air to station leased aircraft in Mumbai

Ashwini Phadnis

NEW DELHI, Dec. 8

THE two leased Boeing 737 aircraft for Alliance Air due to arrive later this month are to be stationed in Mumbai to augment the services operated by the airline from the region.

Sources said that the arrival of the two aircraft will not immediately lead to a huge capacity induction for the airline as one of the existing aircraft in the fleet was to be withdrawn for major maintenance work.

``On which sectors these two aircraft will be deployed is being worked out by officials of the commercial department depending on demand and requests from various stations. However, the position will improve by the end of January as the seats on offer wi ll increase from 8,000 to 12,000 seats per day on the route operated,'' sources said.

However, the airline is said to be considering providing additional capacity, changing the timing of some operations or upgrading the aircraft operated on some sectors, when the leased aircraft arrive.

Sources said that among the options being considered was providing a direct flight on the Jaipur-Mumbai route, operating a flight on the Jaipur-Delhi route in the morning and return in the evening and providing a larger aircraft (probably an Airbus A-320 ) to operate a direct service on the Jaipur-Calcutta sector.

Among the other proposals being looked at was increasing the frequency of flights on the Mumbai-Goa sector during the forthcoming carnival when demand was likely to outstrip the number of seats on offer.

Moreover, the IA Chairman and Managing Director, Mr Sunil Arora, was recently flooded with requests from residents of Jaipur for starting more flights and adding to the flights which operate from there.

Alliance Air is also taking a number of steps to improve its public image by upgrading in-flight and catering services in terms of presentation, quality and quantity of snack/ meals served and a new more modern colour scheme on the five leased aircraft w hich will be inducted soon.

The airline, at present, has a fleet of 11 Boeing aircraft which are mainly deployed on routes connecting tourist destinations, capitals, metropolitan cities and remote areas like Leh, Port Blair and cities in the north-eastern States.