U.S. carrier Sapphire Airways plans to launch its services to India from next year at competitive fares, which will be lower than those charged for direct flights, Press Trust of Indian (PTI) reported on June 11.

The proposed carrier, which is yet to get its approvals from the U.S. Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), plans to start its services from San Fransisco to south Indian city Bangalore via Munich from June 2008, PTI quoted the company's chairman and founder Rahul S Puranik as saying.

He said the plans also include the launch a second flight on the Chicago-London-Mumbai sector at a later stage.

Observing that there was a great amount of traffic between the U.S. and India, Puranik, a former pilot of U.S. carrier Delta, said "we will have competitive fares, which will even be lower than those being charged for the direct flights now."

In the first phase, the company would acquire long-haul aircraft from Airbus, Puranik said.

Puranik also projected a revenue of US$40 million in the first year of its operations, during which it would aim at cornering 25 per cent of the traffic on the Indo-U.S. sector.