Jet Airways Ltd is one of the fastest growing airlines in the world. Zillion spoke with the company’s Senior Vice President Europe, Mr. Raja Segran. “Within the next five years, we should be one of the top 5 airlines in the world,” he says. Mr. Segran joined Jet Airways in late 2007, having previously worked for Singapore Airlines, serving in various overseas and Head Office assignments over a period of 26 years. Mr. Segran’s latest position at Singapore Airlines was General Manager UK and Ireland. “The challenge now in working for Jet Airways is that it’s a relatively new company. Its experience in international operations is just over three years. I saw an opportunity to build an organisation rather than maintain an organisation. ” Jet Airways was established in 1993. The company initially established itself as a very strong domestic airline with a great emphasis on service, schedule reliability and the innovating quality of its service offering. In 2004, Jet Airways launched its first international operations, flying to destinations in India’s neighbouring countries. “Our first long haul destination was London, first launched in 2005,” says Mr. Segran. Since that year, Jet Airways has rapidly grown in its international operations. The company now flies to 65 destinations, with a fleet of 85 aircraft operating 385 flights a day. Jet Airways employs 13,000 people worldwide. Its network spans the breadth of India, while its portfolio of international destinations includes New York (both JFK and Newark) Toronto, Brussels, London (Heathrow), Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Colombo, Bangkok, Kathmandu, Dhaka, Kuwait, Bahrain, Muscat, Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi, Shanghai and San Francisco. Jet Airways is one of the fastest growing airlines in the world. “There are several factors playing a part in that,” explains Mr. Segran. “First of all, India is opening up and the economy is growing very rapidly. The demand for domestic air travel is strong. India is a vast country and the surface infrastructure, such as roads and railways, is not very developed. At the same time, business and leisure travel continues to increase, as the growing economy has created a middle class with a higher disposable income, which again in turn boosts the demand for international air travel, which is increasing. Economic growth in India in general is accountable for the enormous increase in international air travel.” While people in India travel abroad more, the country is also attracting an ever increasing number of both tourists and business travellers. “India has a very good reputation in the tourist industry because of the charm, the traditional hospitality and the ancient culture of the country,” says Mr. Segran. Mr. Segran continues: “We are trying to grow on both fronts, within India as well as internationally. We‘d like a 50-50 revenue split between the two within the next year or two.” Jet Airways is very well known in India, because the company revolutionised air travel in the country. However, internationally, Jet Airways is starting to make its mark as well. JetPrivilege, the company’s frequent flyer program, won seven top awards at the 20th Annual Freddie Awards ceremony in Phoenix. “We plan to extend our intern top - home