Jet Airways all set to fly to US

The US State Department Thursday gave security clearance to Jet Airways, paving the way for India's premier private airline to begin its flights to America.

"The State Department has granted security clearance to Jet Airways," sources in the US embassy said. The Department Of Transportation had earlier accorded clearance to Jet Airways and now only operational details have to be worked out, they added. The airline is now set to fly on Mumbai-Brussels-New York and Mumbai-Shanghai-San Francisco routes, sources in Jet Airways said. Jet's ambitious plan to start its flights to US more than a year ago had hit a roadblock as an American company of the same name had alleged that the Indian carrier had links with terrorist outfits like Al-Qaeda and terrorist mastermind Dawood Ibrahim.

Since then Jet Airways had been waiting for a security clearance from the US State Department. Jet had recently approached the Indian government seeking slots for starting its flights to New York and some other US cities. However, the airline may have to wait till April 2007 to start its US-bound flights as it is scheduled to take delivery of its Boeing 777 aircraft by then. Jet Airways operates over 320 flights to 44 destinations in India. It also flies to Colombo, Kathmandu, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and London.

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