Jet, founded in 1993 and controlled by billionaire chairman Naresh Goyal, competes with rivals Kingfisher Airlines and Air India for a slice of booming India, where air passenger traffic almost doubled between 2004 and 2007 on the back of rising incomes and a surging economy.

Goyal, whose airline is fighting stiff competition, soaring jet fuel prices and a global shortage of pilots, waved off a potential US recession and a likely downturn in global air travel and sky-high jet fuel costs.

"In spite of subprime or whatever, India's GDP has been growing at 8.5 per cent. Of course it's a serious situation. But in the US, there's two and a half to three million Indians there. These people have been travelling," Goyal said.

Goyal was in Hong Kong to celebrate the launch of Jet Airway's  direct flight between Mumbai and Hong Kong. He expects the firm's Mumbai-Shanghai route to be launched in June, with hopes of a Beijing route in the near future.

Goyal said Jet Airways would not join a growing line of carriers demanding redress for a further six-month delay — the third announced — in the Boeing Dreamliner, but warned he would should Boeing push back the launch again.

Jet, which operates 104 aircraft on roughly 380 daily flights to nearly 60 destinations, has 10 Boeing 787 Dreamliners on order, due for delivery due 2011.

This month, Goyal said he would sell up to 10 per cent of his 80 per cent stake in the firm in a private placement to raise $400 million. He said yesterday he would wait until markets calmed. "It's the most terrible time," he said.

Outward bound despite the gloom: High operating costs and skyrocketing fuel prices will cause Indian carriers to lose $700 million in 2007-08, according to consultancy Ernst & Young.

Merrill Lynch projects Jet will book a Q4 loss of Rs716 million this year versus Rs881 million in profit last year.

"We are sharply lowering forecasts on a surge in fuel prices, despite raising assumptions on yields and seat factors," the bank said.

Shares in Mumbai-based Jet were flat yesterday, but have plummeted over 46 per cent so far this year.

Goyal said his goal is for Jet to turn profitable in 2009. Merrill estimates a loss of Rs3.9 billion that year.

Around a third of Jet's business comes from international routes to the US, Europe, and the Gulf, but Goyal is confident that will grow to 50 per cent in two years.

Kingfisher, which is run by fellow billionaire Vijay Mallya, is on track to launch direct, non-stop flights to the US this year, beating Jet to an important and highly coveted market.

Jet's India-US flights are currently routed throuh Brussels. Goyal scoffed at the suggestion that his rival has a leg up in the lucrative direct market.