S African Airways leases Airbus A340s to Jet Airways, India

Press Trust of India
Mumbai, April 11, 2005|20:54 IST

South African Airways (SAA) has leased three Airbus A340-300s to Jet
Airways for its international services to London commencing shortly.

The aircraft would be leased for a two-year period following a
"multi-faceted" agreement signed with Jet Airways. SAA president and
CEO Khaya Ngqula told newsmen on Monday.

Though he did not specify the lease amount, industry sources said it
was around US dollar one million per month per aircraft.

As part of the multi-faceted agreement, Jet will provide SAA with
comprehensive connectivity solutions, which could end up into a
frequent flier programme and code-sharing partnership with the private
airline, subject to government approvals, Ngqula said.

He said SAA was also looking at viable short term and long-term
solutions for doubling flights to India from the present daily service
to Mumbai.

Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad are the destinations being looked at
following growth in traffic by nearly 25 per cent between the two
countries, he added.

Ngqula said after running into losses, SAA has now turned around after
government had pumped in US dollar two million last year as well as by
cutting costs and route rationalisation.

Source:http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1316165,0002.htm