JetLite

Jet Airways to consolidate and rebrand its low-fare products, JetLite brand to disappear

Jet Airways, India’s largest carrier by market share, plans to merge its two low-fare brands under the JetKonnect brand from 25-Mar-2012, as part of a strategic rebranding and rationalisation exercise and efforts to simplify the group’s service proposition and enhance brand recall. Under the restructure, JetKonnect will be the dedicated low-fare service with a mixed fleet of Boeing and ATR aircraft operating on metro, tier II and III routes, with Jet Airways to continue offering a full service product across domestic and international markets.

The restructure was initially flagged by CAPA in Mar-2011, which was confirmed by the carrier in Jul-2011 when it revealed plans to merge the three Jet-branded units into two groupings amid an increased focus on the low-cost segment by the carrier.

Heavy losses for Kingfisher Airlines, Jet Airways and SpiceJet in challenged Indian aviation sector

The challenges continue in India’s aviation sector with the country’s three-listed carriers – Kingfisher Airlines, Jet Airways and SpiceJet – posting losses in the three months ended 31-Dec-2011 (3QFY2012), traditionally the strongest quarter for Indian carriers, marking four consecutive quarters in the red.

Kingfisher Airlines, as expected, posted the heaviest loss among the listed carriers in what was a tough quarter for India’s aviation sector as a whole.

Government-owned Air India is also heavily loss-making. SpiceJet, while also feeling the pain, is better placed than some of its rivals, while unlisted IndiGo is likely to be the sole profitable carrier in the current fiscal year.

India domestic passenger growth slows to 8% in Dec-2011; 2012 growth to slow from 16.6% in 2011

India’s domestic air passenger growth slowed to 8% in Dec-2011 to less than half the pace of growth experienced in calendar 2011 and down from the 17-22% growth rates seen between Jun-2011 and Oct-2011. While passenger numbers in India’s domestic market have seen growth now for 31 consecutive months, the result for Dec-2011 marks the end of 16 consecutive months of double-digit growth. This single-digit growth in the peak month of Dec-2011 (to 5.63 million passengers) is a sign that slowing economic growth is affecting air travel and reflects impending capacity caution by some of the nation’s largest players.

India’s domestic passenger numbers increased 16.6% to 60.7 million passengers in 2011, averaging out at 5.1 million passengers per month, and up 74% from 2006 levels. The largest stand-alone carrier was IndiGo with a 19.5% market share, with IndiGo also the fastest growing carrier in 2011.

IndiGo launches international services - targets 15% of seats in this segment by Mar-2012

IndiGo commences its much-anticipated international air services today (01-Sep-2011) after completing the mandatory five years of wholly domestic operations. The LCC, the largest in the domestic Indian market, marks the start of its foray into international markets with direct service to Dubai, followed by Singapore and Bangkok in the first phase - all key global business hubs.