By Paras Ramoutar
IANS
Toronto : Jet Airways is starting operations between Toronto and New Delhi via Brussels from Sep 5, and will fly to this city five times a week, the airline's founder and chairman Naresh Goyal said.
The airline has also firmed up plans to start a service to Newark in New Jersey from Aug 5, Goyal said, adding that the fares to both these sectors would be competitive without compromising on the service.
"Canada was on our radar the minute we were allowed to fly internationally in January 2005. Canada-India trade is growing every day and so is travel between our two countries," he said.
Goyal said his airline was targeting the 800,000 Indians in Canada, many of whom fly to India regularly, and added that the withdrawal of Air Canada's service to India last month had made the prospects for Jet Airways better.
"Our cost structure is low because wages are low in India. As an Indian company we understand our customers, who are Canadians now, intimately – whether they are from Punjab, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu or Karnataka or Andhra Pradesh," he said.
"We also know what food they want to eat, what films they want to see and what music they like."
The airline chief said when Jet Airways starts its Toronto and Newark service, it will be among the first to offer eight private, first class cabins, each with flat beds and 23-inch plasma screens with 100 on-demand channels to choose from.
Jet Airways operates over 340 flights daily across 44 destinations in India and also flies to Nepal, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, Britain, Thailand, Belgium and the US.