Two leading airlines of the country, Jet Airways and Kingfisher would start joint flights. This is a much unexpected move as both airlines are competitor of each other in the aviation sector. Both airlines would cooperate with each other for sharing of codes on domestic and international flights, leveraging the joint network, joint fuel management, common ground handling and cross-selling of flight inventories.

The alliance is proposed to cut runaway losses. The world is facing a strong economic crisis and the customer traffic is decreasing. Also, fuel prices are affecting the aviation industry. These are the major reasons for aviation companies to engage in cost saving operations.

Decision to start cooperation with each other is taken after a meeting between Kingfisher chairman Vijay Mallya and his Jet Airways counterpart Naresh Goyal. Both companies would approach the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for approval for share codes for international and domestic flights.

The chairman of Kingfisher airlines, Mr. Vijay Mallaya termed the deal very useful for both companies for cutting revenue losses and increasing the value of shares.