Having recently become the leading Indian airline with the most frequent flights between Thailand and India, Jet Airways is eyeing further growth opportunities.
The full-service carrier is pondering two options to boost its capacity on Thailand-India routes: raising frequencies and deploying wide-body aircraft with higher seat density.
Colin Neubronner, senior vice-president for sales and marketing, talked about those options as he sees the potential to cash in on double-digit growth in traffic between the two countries.
On March 27 the airline raised its seat capacity between Thailand and India by 60% and it aims to see those seats fully consumed, he said.
Jet Airways' weekly capacity between Bangkok and Mumbai has risen to 7,504, while Bangkok-Delhi is 4,928. That was the result of the launch of a third daily flight on Bangkok-Mumbai and a second daily service between Bangkok and Delhi.
Mr Neubronner sees potential to cash in on double-digit traffic growth. reuters
There is a strong possibility Jet Airways will increase its capacity by introducing Airbus A330 wide-body jets on those routes, said Mr Neubronner.
"The increased capacity could happen a year or two from now, or sooner," the Singaporean executive told the Bangkok Post.
His optimism comes as Indian arrivals continue to steadily grow over the years. Last year 1.1 million Indians visited Thailand, up by 15% from 2014.
This year the Tourism Authority of Thailand expects an 8% rise in Indian tourist arrivals.
Jet Airways has no immediate plan to serve other Thai cities from India, but will take advantage of its code-share partnership with Bangkok Airways to facilitate the needs of its passengers wanting to travel elsewhere.
Mr Neubronner said Jet Airways, which was in the red over the last few years, is on course to turn a profit in the fiscal year ended in March, sooner than expected. He did not quantify the profit but said it is a result of a turnaround plan that is largely geared towards a return to its core mission of being a full-service airline.
The improved balance sheet was attributed to focusing on the Indian air travel market -- the world's 10th largest with 70.1 million domestic and 50.8 million international passengers a year -- and emphasising Asian markets, he said.