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India’s largest private airline, Jet Airways has announced a third flight on the strategic Mumbai London Heathrow route, starting from the winter schedule which commences October 29th.
Flight schedule
9W116 departs Mumbai at 09:05 and arrives London Heathrow 13:35.
9W115 departs London Heathrow at 15:30 and arrives Mumbai 05:55 the next morning.
The flight will be operated by a three class Boeing 777-300ER with first class suites, lie-flat business class, but a bone-crunching 10 abreast economy class.
First and business class cabin photos
Jet Airways won Business Traveller’s best First Class award back in 2008. The business class cabin is with mini-suites in a herringbone format i.e. all seats face the aisle.
Business class gallery
First class suites gallery
Jet Airways Boeing 777-300ER seat map
You can see the detailed seat map here.
Analysis
This is an excellent move by the airline. London is home to a large Gujarati and Punjabi origin diaspora. The Mumbai London (Gujaratis) and Delhi London (Punjabis) routes are two of the most popular international routes from India. With a third flight ex-Mumbai, Jet Airways matches the three London flights offered by national carrier Air India, ex New Delhi. Both carriers consolidate their hold on these strategic routes.
The timing of the third flight also deepens Jet Airways’ partnership with Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic, offering connections to 13 destinations in the United States over London. While its over-night flight offers late morning connections, the new flight will offer late afternoon connections.
On this side of the world, it allows Jet Airways to expand its same aircraft type service to Singapore and also strengthen its cargo offering between ASEAN, India and Europe.
However, the premium cabin product on the Jet Airways’ 777s are a little dated and considering that British Airways is deploying its new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, Jet Airways will need to consider spending some of those profits on refurbishment and upgrades.
As usual, we invite you to share your thoughts via a comment.
