March 16, 2007: Private carrier Jet Airways will make a stopover in Brussels for its flights planned between Mumbai and New York that will operate seven days a week. The carrier also intends to operate a connection flight between New Delhi and Toronto before 2007-end.

The Brussels service, slated to commence from August this year, will provide a direct link between Belgium and India. At present, passengers traveling to India from Belgium take connecting flights from cities like Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam, and this planned stopover by Jet will make it the first non-stop flight between the two
countries.

The decision to have a stopover comes after the tourism minister the Flanders region of Belgium, Geert Bourgeois, on is on a visit to India, met Indian tourism minister Ambika Soni. Bourgeois had also met Jet Airways executives in Mumbai.

The number of outbound Indian tourists has annually grown by 12 per cent, since 2002, and according to an estimate Indians holidaying abroad will touch a whopping 11.5 million by 2010. This fact is leading Indian aviation companies to launch new services to international destinations, according to an analyst.

The Flanders region is also expecting to cash in on this, more so due to the fact that Indians traveling to the region for pleasure have risen 30 per cent during 2001 to 2005.

This is one vital link that the countries were waiting for, and according to Bourgeois the new air link will provide a much needed boost to the region's tourism industry.

Jet Airways is also planning to commence a connection service between New Delhi and Toronto before the end of the year. This would also have a stopover in Brussels, and will have operations every day.

The carrier is also planning to take delivery of two types of long-haul aircrafts, Boeing 777 and Airbus 320, this year. These would be deployed on the new routes.

Earlier, Jet Airways had launched a mobile ticketing facility in the county. The carrier had roped in one of the largest GSM players in the country for the initiative.

The company launched 'M-ticketing with JetWallet', a software solution that allows users to book, pay and generate e-tickets over mobile phones.

Initially, the companies would be offering the service to subscribers with Java-enabled phones with GPRS capability and Jet Privilege members. JetWallet can be downloaded on to mobile phones to book Jet tickets.

The e-tickets will be then e-mailed to customers who can then print them and use as regular tickets. E-tickets are automatically stored on mobile phones allowing for future access. The solution allows customers to view earlier tickets, change, cancel or get refunds.

JetWallet is a version of C-SAM's (a Sam Pitroda company) patented OneWallet technology and is a one step closer to the launching of mobile phones wallets.