Agencies

Mumbai, Jan 22:  India's largest private carrier Jet Airways India Ltd on Saturday said that its net profit declined by 53 per cent at Rs. 61.01 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2005 compared to the year-ago quarter due to high fuel costs and competition.

The company had recorded a net proft of Rs 129.63 crore in the third quarter of last fiscal.

However, the total income increased 21.78 per cent to Rs 1,499.03 crore  for the third quarter from Rs 1,230.90 crore in the year-ago period, the company informed the Bombay stock Exchange.

Jet Airways, which announced on Thursday it would acquire rival Air Sahara for Rs 2,300 crore in cash, was last month allowed by the Reserve Bank to hedge fuel outside India.

The Airlines, which is already flying to international destinations like London and Singapore, is still awaiting landing rights in the US.

Jet shares ended down 2.2 per cent at Rs 1,125.15 on the last trading day of the week on Friday.