India's Jet Airways has postponed the launch of its new route between New Delhi and Hong Kong by a few months, a senior official of the company said, hinting at the growing sadness in the industry due to high prices of oil.
Mr. Saroj Datta, Executive Director, said on Monday that there are no plans to cut other routes at the moment.
He said, "We are deferring New Delhi-Hong Kong flights to the winter, taking into account the requirements of the market, and redeploying the capacity"..
The flights on New Delhi-Hong Kong route had been scheduled to begin in the month of June.
The state-run airline and Jet Airways' competitor Air India is checking its schedule but has not reached a decision yet, said a spokesman.
He said, "We are taking a long, hard look at our schedule because of the extremely difficult conditions... with the unprecedented and unabated rise in fuel prices, which are affecting the economic viability of flights in certain sectors".
The civil aviation secretary said last week that the jet fuel prices in India have increased almost 90 per cent since last June, which may bring about Indian carriers to double their losses in the year 2008-09, from INR 40 billion rupees a year ago.
The jet fuel prices, which make up around 45 per cent of the operating cost of an Indian carrier, are about three-quarters higher than international levels due to local taxes.
