Date:14/07/2004 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2004/07/14/stories/2004071401410400.htm

Back `Jet not given permission to seek slots abroad'

Our Bureau

New Delhi , July 13

THE Minister for Civil Aviation, Mr Praful Patel, has said that the Government has not given permission to Jet Airways to secure landing slots in London, Singapore and Malaysia, among others.

In a statement in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, Mr Patel said that if the airline is approaching other countries for slots without obtaining the Government's permission, it is doing so at its own "volition and risk."

To another question, the Minister said that Indian Airlines (IA) earned a net profit of Rs 5.10 crore according the provisional data compiled for the first two months of the financial year 2004-05. During the two months, IA carried about 4,900 more passengers on a daily basis, he said.

Mr Patel said that the system seat factor during April and May this year was 61.8 per cent and 67.5 per cent, respectively as compared to 55.7 per cent and 60 per cent recorded during the same months in 2003-04.