JetLite was an Indian low-cost airline that operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of Jet Airways. It was formed after Jet Airways acquired Air Sahara and rebranded the carrier under the JetLite brand. The airline was headquartered in Mumbai and provided scheduled passenger services across domestic routes in India, along with a limited number of international destinations.
| Name | JetLite |
|---|---|
| Type | Low-cost airline (subsidiary) |
| Parent company | Jet Airways |
| Predecessor | Air Sahara |
| Country | India |
| Industry | Civil aviation |
Air Sahara was originally promoted by the Sahara India Pariwar group and operated as a full-service domestic carrier in India from the 1990s. Following extended negotiations, Jet Airways agreed to acquire Air Sahara, completing the purchase in 2007. After the acquisition, the airline was repositioned as a low-cost operation and renamed JetLite, allowing the parent group to compete in the rapidly growing budget travel segment in India alongside carriers such as IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir.
JetLite functioned as the budget arm of the Jet Airways group, operating point-to-point services on metro and Tier-II routes within India. The airline used a single-class configuration aimed at price-sensitive travellers, with a simplified product compared to the full-service offering of its parent. Over time, the parent group also operated a separate low-cost brand, JetKonnect, and JetLite's operations were progressively merged with JetKonnect as part of the consolidation of the group's low-cost activities.
JetLite represented one of the major consolidation moves in the Indian aviation sector during the late 2000s, when full-service carriers sought to enter the low-cost segment in response to changing passenger demand. The acquisition of Air Sahara by Jet Airways was among the largest airline takeovers in India at the time and reshaped the competitive landscape of domestic air travel.