Jet Airways is currently in the eye of a storm. While a deal is thrashed out with their many suitors, including the Tatas and Etihad Airways, we have covered many of the changes that have happened in the past to keep them afloat, whether they are network changes or pax-ex changes. You can catch all of them below if you haven’t already:

• Jet Airways massive International route consolidation coming December 2018
• Reading into Jet Airways Q3 Results 2018
• Jet Airways confirms they are looking for investors
• Meal cutbacks started on Jet Airways metro routes
• Jet Airways withdraws lounge access to Gold & Platinum members globally
• Jet Airways cuts meals for Deal and Light passengers
• Jet Airways passengers denied Lounge Access in Mumbai Airport
• Jet Airways lounge access withdrawal for Gold & Platinum Members w.e.f December 1
• Why I am still a Jet Airways customer?

But, there is more. Jet Airways will be closing it’s Sharjah station in February, something which has not been announced at the moment by the airline. It currently operates a daily flight on Kochi to Sharjah sector. The last flight will depart on February 9, 2019.

Jet Airways is also tinkering it’s Muscat station for a brief period it seems. Currently, Jet Airways operates daily flights from New Delhi & Mumbai to Muscat. As a first move, Jet Airways will be operating last flight from Delhi next month, and also fold up entirely in February.

• New Delhi to Muscat (December 9, 2018)
• Mumbai to Muscat (February 9, 2018)

However, the day after we retrieved the information, it seems like Jet Airways has had a change of heart. They have recently uploaded daily New Delhi to Muscat flight from March 31, 2019. These flights are however bookable only in the full fare class for time being, which should mean Jet would be able to accommodate on another carrier if needed. So I guess we will have to wait for Jet Airways to make up their mind. It doesn’t seem plausible to opt out of a station only to add flights back after a few months. If it was a seasonal route, it would have been a different thing.

Update: Jet Airways is closing Muscat station w.e.f. February 9, 2018.

Where is Jet Airways adding capacity?

Jet Airways is pursuing a massive Dammam push. Jet Airways operates daily flights from Mumbai, New Delhi and Trivandrum to Dammam. In the summer schedule from March 31, 2019,  Jet Airways would be adding the following new flights to Dammam.

Second New Delhi to Dammam daily

Jet Airways is going to add a second daily Boeing 737 rotation on the New Delhi to Dammam route from March 31, 2,019 with the following schedule.

9W 518 DEL 2325 – 0100 (+1 day) DMM 737 D
9W 517 DMM 0200 – 0825 DEL 737 D

Economy ticket starts at INR 14k one way and Business Class starts at INR 32k one way.

Apart from these flights the following flights were bookable last weekend. Jet Airways seems to have pulled those flights but you can still see them on Google Flights. Let’s see if Jet Airways goes ahead with these flights or not.

• Kochi to Dammam 4x weekly
• Kozhikode to Dammam 4x weekly
• Hyderabad to Dammam 4x weekly

Update: Jet Airways has closed booking for Thiruvananthapuram to Dammam from February 9.

Air India operates daily A320 New Delhi to Dammam flight. In addition to that, Air India Express operates 4x weekly Kozhikode to Dammam and 3x weekly Mangalore to Dammam flights on their 737-800 aircraft. Looks like Jet Airways is targeting routes with less competition. Usually, airlines earn better revenues from flights Saudi Arabia due to less competition and higher fares.

Bottomline

9W seems to be getting out of crowded mainstream Middle-East routes and adding capacity on routes with less competition/monopoly routes. If Jet Airways pursues Dammam expansion then they will be the prominent carrier on India-Dammam route.

What do you think will be Jet Airways’ next move on the regional reorganisation they seem to be undergoing at the moment?