April 27, 2007: In a serious attempt at catching up with famed carriers Virgin Atlantic and British Airways, India’s own Jet Airways is going for a major expansion. The plans are so big that they have prompted the media to opine that the two extremely good western carriers are likely to face increased competition on the lucrative routes to Delhi and Mumbai.

Billionaire businessman Naresh Goyal who promotes Jet Air has lined up a $3.7 billion expansion plan to put Jet on par with the two UK carriers on services from London’s Heathrow airport. According to a report, the investment includes an order for 30 new long-haul jets from Airbus and Boeing to upgrade Jet's service from next month to include a first class bedroom in the sky.

A run through the statistics over the past three years reveals that competition on UK-India route has grown. This was the result of the decision of the Indian and British governments to liberalise the market and allow more carriers to launch services. With close to 1.5 million passengers having traveled between London and India last year, Jet Airways sees more advantages on this front. The airline which began services in May 2005 and now operates 29 direct flights a week to Delhi, Mumbai, Amritsar and Ahmedabad from London.

Besides Jet had announced that its first class fare on London-Mumbai would be 20 per cent cheaper than the equivalent BA fare at £4,421. For that, passengers will get their own private suite consisting of an 83-inch flat bed, a 23-inch television screen, a personal wardrobe and office facilities. Further, Goyal has pointed out that Jet's economy and business class fares would also be cheaper than those of BA and Virgin with prices as low as £367 for a return flight to Mumbai. He said that Jet's business class fare would be £2,262 compared with £2,710 for a Virgin Upper Class ticket. However, a Virgin spokesman disputed Jet's figures saying that its Upper Class fares could be bought for as little as £1,600, a report added.

Jet Air is all set to take delivery of 20 Boeing 777 and Airbus A330 aircraft over the next two years, and has also placed orders for 10 Boeing 787 Dreamliners.