February 6, 2006: Air India is mulling of commencing low-cost services to Europe and US, under an attempt to replicate the success of its subsidiary Air India Express. If this becomes successful, the carrier might even go in for a full-fledged low-cost carrier that will fly on different routes across the world.

"We are open to the idea of starting a low-cost airline to Europe and US, and if the idea catches on, we would like to expand it to other destinations across the world," Air India Chairman V Thulasidas said.

"As of now there are no concrete plans, and this is only a thought process," he added.

AirAsia, the Malaysian carrier had commenced a low-cost global airline and was planning to fly to European destinations for as low as $100. The carrier, which had started operations in 2001 with two planes, at present operates a fleet of 50 aircraft and flies to destinations in south-east Asia and China.

"This is a cue for us, and we are also exploring the possibilities," he said, adding, "with Europe and US requiring at least 8-10 hours of air travel, a budget carrier could also be a success".

The national carrier services to several destinations in the Middle-East from a number of cities in India, while it also operates services between Chennai and Singapore.

However, barring Dubai, the carrier does not operate regular flights to other destinations in Middle-East which have low-cost flights. Air India operates both budget and regular services to the Gulf country.

If Air-India succeeds in launching low-cost long-haul services, this will be the first-of-its-kind venture by an Indian air-carrier. At present, the country's low-cost carriers are restricted to offering domestic services in the country.

The carrier launched Air India Express, a low-cost carrier on April 29 last year servicing on routes between Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala and Abu Dhabi.

Meanwhile, other global carriers like Virgin Atlantic and EasyJet were believed to be teaming up with an Asian airline to roll out budget carrier. The carriers were teaming up to take on low-cost carrier AirAsia, and this could be termed as the first alliance between two low-cost carriers. The companies were planning to offer services to Britain for between £43 and £365, half the cost of full-service scheduled airlines operating on the route.

Airlines were also not keen on long-haul flights, as these could eat into their revenues considerably.