With even the Prime Minister’s visit to China this January not helping Jet Airways’ efforts to fly to the US west coast via Shanghai, the carrier has all but given up hope on the China front. Now, it has written to the Ministry of Civil Aviation requesting for permission to fly via Hong Kong to San Francisco and Los Angeles.The only Indian airline besides national carrier Air India to be allowed to fly to international destinations, Jet Airways is in a hurry to start its operations to the US west coast and has requested that it be allowed to do so via Hong Kong by May 2008, well before rival Kingfisher launches its non-stop flight from Bangalore to San Francisco in August.Senior officials from the Ministry of Civil Aviation confirmed that Jet Airways had requested for the permission. “They have asked for operations via Hong Kong, and the issue is being examined. India has only signed a fresh bilateral agreement with Hong Kong in December 2007 which allows the Indian side to operate 27 services from any point in India. The Hong Kong carriers can operate 10 services to Delhi, six to Mumbai and 11 to Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata. So it will have to be seen whether the proposed new Jet Airways flights can be accommodated along the sector,” said a senior official.Even nearly two months after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to China and Jet Airways receiving an in-principle approval to fly to the country, Chinese authorities were “still dragging their feet” over allowing India’s designated carrier to fly to Chinese cities as reported by The Indian Express earlier.While Great Wall Airlines of China has already received the requisite permission from Indian authorities, it is yet to start flying. China was expected to give a clearance to Jet Airways for flying to San Francisco via Beijing in reciprocity after which the airline was to fly to Shanghai and Guang Zhou.The right to fly to Shanghai was crucial for Jet Airways that planned to develop Shanghai as its second hub after Brussels and launch its Mumbai-Shanghai-San Francisco flight before Kingfisher Airlines. Jet Airways Chairman Naresh Goyal had left no stone unturned to get these rights from China, accompanying the PM-led business delegation to the country. This would have been the first time a non-Chinese airline would have been allowed to operate from China.But the delay in Chinese clearance has caused some anxiety in South Block, as India was prompt in allowing Great Wall Airlines to fly to Mumbai and Chennai despite security concerns by the national security council secretariat and other agencies. The Ministry of Civil Aviation will meet their Chinese counterparts soon to clear the air on the issue.“We have written to them on the issue and they have responded. A round of meeting is expected soon and they have mentioned some probable dates but the final date is yet to be decided,” the official added.Chinese envoy to India Zhang Yan had confirmed at a recent seminar in New Delhi that there were some “technical problems” in allowing Jet Airways to fly through China and said it was being discussed.
