Jet Airways, once the only private airline flying to the Northeast, will be withdrawing its flights from the city to Silchar, Jorhat, Aizawl and Imphal in February as part of a “route rationalisation” exercise.

The full-service airline, which recently introduced no-frills fares for some seats without the usual complimentary meal, had grounded a Port Blair and a Bagdogra flight from Calcutta earlier this year.

The latest step by Jet Airways caps a period of financial turbulence, especially over the past three quarters.

“Given the challenging conditions in the aviation industry against the backdrop of a sharp rise in Brent fuel price, a depreciating rupee and a difficult pricing environment, Jet Airways has undertaken a series of initiatives to enhance economic performance, efficiency and productivity to ensure the long-term health of its business. As part of these initiatives, the airline has undertaken a comprehensive review of its network, whereby it will move capacity from uneconomical routes to more profitable ones, to more closely align the capacity offered with the demand characteristics of specific markets,” a Jet spokesperson said on Wednesday.

“While these measures will result in Jet Airways withdrawing operations from four airports in the Northeast by mid-February, they will provide the airline with economies of scale at other stations.”

Besides some smaller Northeast destinations, Jet currently flies to Guwahati, Mumbai and Delhi from Calcutta. The airline used to have several domestic and international connections from the city, including Bangkok and Dhaka.

“We are looking at viability of routes. New routes that are found viable will be added,” a Jet official said.

He said that in the Northeast, the challenge was to maintain business in the face of new direct connections from those places to the metros. Travellers to and from the region previously had to fly through Calcutta.

Jet Airways had faced a similar predicament in Bagdogra, which now has direct connections to Delhi and Mumbai. The airline has also failed to keep up with the competition, especially budget carriers that offer more competitive fares.

The Telegraph