Agencies
 
Kolkata, Nov 6: Jet Airways Ltd is stepping up international operations as it faces increasing pressure from domestic rivals.

Jet Airways, which has about 40 per cent of the fast-growing domestic aviation market, is eyeing destinations in South Africa, Canada, the Middle East and China, it said on Monday.

Jet Airways already flies to Britain, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Colombo and Kathmandu. It will launch daily flights to Bangkok in January, and is awaiting regulatory approval to fly to the United States.

"The ASEAN (south east Asian) region is a growing market and very profitable," the Chief Executive, Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, told a news conference.

International operations, which account for 17 per cent of Jet's overall revenue now, will make up half of its revenue by 2008/09 when Jet has added new aircraft to its fleet and more overseas routes, Prock-Schauer said.

Jet is investing $2.5 billion over the next three years in new aircraft and training, and has said it would cut costs through greater online ticket sales and better staff management.

India's domestic aviation market is forecast to grow at about 20 per cent a year over the next five years. Discount carriers including Deccan Aviation Ltd and SpiceJet Ltd are competing for a bigger share of the market.

Jet posted a loss of Rs 55.13 crore ($12.3 million) in the July-September quarter compared to a net profit of Rs 68.59 crore in the same period a year earlier.