Bangalore Aviation News, Reviews, Analysis and opinions of Indian Aviation
Related Articles
Jet Airways’ all-economy service ‘Konnect’, will launch a new premium cabin product on some of their Boeing 737 aircraft called ‘Konnect Select’ on April 26th.
Sounds confusing? Jet Konnect is by the airline’s own definition an “all economy” service. This moniker will get removed when the new premium class is introduced.
A Jet Airways spokesperson clarified, the new cabin will for all practical purposes be a business class (or US domestic first class) but with an economic twist.
For a fare about 25% lower than Jet’s full service business class product ‘Club Premiere’ (CP), Konnect Select passengers will get a premium cabin on several domestic routes. The cabin will feature the same four abreast wide seating in a separate private eight seat cabin. Seat pitch is 40 inches compared to the 44 inches of CP. In flight services will include complementary in-flight reading material, a welcome drink, and complimentary hot meals on-board. The spokesperson clarified that the meal service would be just a choice of vegetarian or non-vegetarian and would not be as elaborate as the CP meal service which is served on Noritake bone china.
On the ground ‘Konnect Select’ will offer passengers lounge access, priority check-in at the dedicated business class counters, as well as priority baggage tagging and increased baggage allowances. Frequent fliers will also enjoy Jet Privilege benefits similar to ‘Club Premiere’, including a mileage accrual structure as per the existing domestic accrual levels for various booking classes, redemption requirements similar to the current requirement for Jet Airways business class, excess baggage allowance similar to current tier-based benefits for domestic routes, and the acceptance of upgrade vouchers as per the current policy.
The Jet Airway’s spokesperson clarified that Jet Konnect serves Tier 1 metro to Tier 2 cities while Jet Airways focusses on tier 1 metro routes between Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata and Chennai. With the surging Indian economy, corporate purse-strings have been loosened and demand for premium seats are at all time highs. Details of routes on which the new class will be introduced were not provided by the airline.
With the introduction of ‘Konnect Select’ the lines of differentiation between Jet Airways, Jet Konnect and JetLite are very blurred right now.
