Jet to sign code-sharing agreement with Emirates...

India's Jet Airways, which is starting flights from Dubai to New Delhi and Mumbai this month, said it will have a code-sharing agreement with Emirates as the two carriers seek to benefit from the growing traffic on the UAE-India sector.

The arrangement is expected to become effective from October, Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal told reporters in Dubai on Sunday.

He said both airlines are well-positioned to benefit from the alliance, which will cover joint selling of seats and their loyalty programmes.

"We have held discussions with Emirates for code-sharing. We have the largest network in India and Emirates has the best network out of Dubai," Goyal said at a press conference held to announce his company's daily services from the Gulf region's commercial and tourism hub from August 23.

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"Dubai is the most important city for business so we did not want to be left out," he said when asked why the airline is adding routes at a time of rising fuel costs.

Goyal said the new routes will do well because of the huge expatriate population in the UAE. Jet will use a two-class Airbus 330-200 aircraft on the routes.

The company had planned to start a Dubai service in 2005 but could not get permission from the Indian government. However, liberalisation of the aviation sector has helped it to expand overseas.

Dubai will be Jet's 20th international destination and its sixth in the Gulf network.

"Services from Dubai were long overdue," reg-ional manager Shakir Kantawala said, adding that the airline is working with India Tourism to promote holiday travel from the UAE.

The code-share link with Emirates would allow it to market its 45 destinations in India.

"In India we connect to one city every five minutes," Kantawala said.

India and the UAE have an agreement that provides for 54,000 seats per week to carriers from each country.

Jet hopes to benefit from under-utilisation of the allotted capacity on the Indian side in its planned connections from Dubai to several Indian cities including Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram, Bangalore and also in adding frequency on the Delhi and Mumbai routes.

Among planned destinations, Riyadh is expected to become part of Jet's network in October followed by Jeddah. The airline also plans to start flying to Chittagong and Sylhet in Bangladesh.

Goyal said the company also sees opportunities to introduce the services of its low-fare subsidiary JetLite in the Gulf region.

Opportunity: JetLite eyes Gulf region

- Jet will deploy its two-class Airbus 330-200 aircraft on the routes to Mumbai and News Delhi from Dubai.

- Jet flies daily from Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Bahrain, Muscat and Doha to various points in India. It has 385 daily flights covering 64 destinations.

- Goyal said the company also sees opportunities for introducing the services of its low-fare subsidiary JetLite in the Gulf region.