SHANGHAI—Jet Airways (India) Ltd., the nation’s biggest domestic carrier, has scrapped plans to form an air-cargo venture and will instead target the country’s growing airfreight market through a fully owned unit.

“We know how to operate and manage aircraft,” chief commercial officer Sudheer Raghavan said in an interview in Shanghai on June 14. “If we are going to do a joint venture with somebody, there must be a logical reason.”

Jet wants to begin flying freighters as surging fuel prices and cutthroat competition squeeze margins on passenger flights. The carrier was in talks with potential partners about a venture and had planned to announce a deal last year.

The airline will equip the new cargo unit by converting at least three of its existing Boeing Co. 737 passenger planes into freighters, Raghavan said.

The carrier was in talks with “very, very serious partners” about forming a cargo venture, billionaire chairman Naresh Goyal said in September. He earlier told German newspaper Handelsblatt that Jet was discussing the idea with Deutsche Lufthansa AG. State-owned Air India began flying freighters last year.

Jet has plunged 45 percent this year in Mumbai trading on concerns surging fuel costs and rising competition will crimp profit. The carrier gained 0.2 percent to 545.4 rupees on June 13.

Yields on passenger flights will likely fall this summer from a year earlier, Raghavan said. To help cope, Jet aims to reduce wastage, including ensuring that it doesn’t carry too much food on flights, he added.

The carrier also plans to find new sources of revenue, possibly including selling advertising on boarding passes and its web site, Raghavan said. Charging for check-in luggage may be considered, as well, he added.

Still, Jet doesn’t intend to ax routes or to cancel aircraft orders, Raghavan said. The carrier operates 83 planes, according to its web site. It had outstanding orders for eight Airbus SAS A330s and 33 Boeing planes, including 10 787-8s, as of the end of May, according to the planemakers’ web sites.

The combined loss at Indian carriers, including Jet and Deccan Aviation Ltd., the country’s largest discount carrier, will likely double this year to $1.5 billion, according to the Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation (Capa). Domestic fuel prices have surged 53 percent this year, eroding gains from rising traffic.

Indian carriers will trim routes and delay introducing at least 30 planes in the year started April 1, Kapil Kaul, chief executive officer of the local unit of Capa said on June 10.

Raghavan spoke in Shanghai after Jet made its maiden flight to the city from Mumbai. The service, the carrier’s first to China, continues onto San Francisco.

Jet plans to start more routes between China and India, the world’s two most populous nations, Raghavan said. It has also contacted Chinese carriers including Air China Ltd., China Eastern Airlines Corp. and Shanghai Airlines Co. about possibly cooperating on routes, including cross-selling tickets, he added. (Bloomberg)

PPA says Q1 cargo volume rose 1.3%

CARGO volume handled in facilities owned and operated by the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) grew 1.3 percent during the first three months of the year.

Jet Airways scraps cargo venture for owned unit

 SHANGHAI—Jet Airways (India) Ltd., the nation’s biggest domestic carrier, has scrapped plans to form an air-cargo venture and will instead target the country’s growing airfreight market through a fully owned unit.

SEOUL—South Korea asked Korea Express Co., the nation’s largest logistics company, and other shippers to pay more for road haulage to end a drivers’ strike that has brought the country’s ports to a near standstill.