Zhang had planned an impressive ceremony to introduce the new service, but later decided to pare it down to a news conference and donate the money he saved to the earthquake-stricken areas in Sichuan Province. Jet Airways also donated 200,000 yuan ($29,412) through the Consulate General of the Republic of India in Shanghai to Sichuan. The company's headquarters in Mumbai also accepted Zhang's advice to donate 1 percent of ticket sales for flights from June 14 to September 30 to Sichuan, as well as the proceeds from an online auction for 10 business-class tickets.

These moves helped Jet Airways receive very positive media coverage. Zhang had been advised to offer discount airfares on the flights to gain recognition and expand the company's market share as soon as possible. But he declined, because he believed the discounts would have had a negative effect on the airline's high-end targeted brand image. After further discussions with his marketing team, they decided to offer a limited number of discount tickets for individual flights in the hope that more passengers would enjoy the company's high-quality service at economical prices without affecting its brand image.

After having first taste of Jet Airways's service, clients who value quality flight services are very likely to fly again on Jet Airways even without airfare discounts, Zhang said. The airline also offered travel agencies, exhibition companies and news agencies discount tickets to increase its "word-of-month" recommendations within those industries and promote group sales. So far, flights for the new route have been fully booked during weekends, and reservations for weekday flights have been growing steadily, Zhang said.

Future plans

The International Air Transport Association has forecast that Asia expects to see a 300 million increase in the number of air passengers during 2007-2011, of which Shanghai could account for 20 percent. The passenger volume of air carriers in Shanghai could exceed 60 million this year, Zhang said.

The goal of Jet Airways is to become one of the top five international airlines in the world by 2010. Zhang said the company plans to introduce more services for the Chinese market in the near future.

"The flights between India and China every week will increase to more than 100 from 22 at present," Zhang said. "I don't think it will take a long time for us to achieve that goal."