Jet Airways, owing to the accumulated losses and the current slowdown in the economy, has announced a slew of cost-cutting measures, including a 5-25 per cent cut in salaries of its employees who are earning above Rs 75,000 per month. The airline said in a media statement that for the pilots, this will be in the form of a combination of wage cut and allowance rationalisation, which will bring the contribution of pilots in line with the company's other employees.

On Wednesday, India's No 2 private carrier, Kingfisher Airlines reported that it has got the approval from the federal government to operate flights on nine international routes.

A spokesman of the company said, "Kingfisher has received approvals to operate Mumbai-London, Kolkata-Dhaka, Kolkata-Chittagong, Mumbai-Hong Kong, Mumbai-Singapore, Chennai-Colombo, Bangalore-Colombo, Bangalore-Bangkok and Mumbai-Bangkok flights."

He added, "The time frame for launch of these services will be announced progressively."

Vienna  - Austria's state holding OeIAG welcomed Wednesday the decision by Deutsche Lufthansa AG to buy its stake in Austrian Airlines AG, as the deal would protect jobs and maintain the country's attractiveness as a business location.

"Independently, Austrian Airlines would not have been able to maintain its business model," OeIAG chief executive Peter Michaelis said in a statement.

Frankfurt  - Deutsche Lufthansa AG announced plans Wednesday to take over ailing flag carrier Austrian Airlines AG.

A statement released after a board meeting said the German carrier initially planned to buy a 41.56 per cent stake in the airline from Austrian state holding OeIAG.

This would be increased to 100 per cent at a later stage, the announcement said. OeIAG is to decide on the offer Friday.

Sydney  - Qantas Airways Ltd confirmed Wednesday that it was in talks with British Airways plc (BA) on a possible merger that would see both iconic brands surviving and dual stock exchange listings.

The negotiations come four years after BA sold a 25-per-cent stake in Qantas that it picked up when the carrier was privatized in 1995.

Treasurer Wayne Swan said that a merger would need the blessing of the Australian government, because current regulations restrict foreign ownership to 49 per cent and individual shareholdings to 25 per cent.

State owned air carrier, Air India has decided to slash the fuel surcharge by Rs 400 for all routes. This would pave the way for cheaper air travel and tariff revision by the private carriers. Currently, domestic carriers are charging a fuel surcharge of Rs 2,350 per passenger for distance up to 750 km and Rs 3,100 for above 750 km. Surcharge was increased following the significant increase in the crude oil price in the international market, around three months ago. The fuel surcharge for the short flights now would be Rs 1,950 as compared to Rs 2,350.