Regional airlines are all set to drive the growth of the Indian civil aviation sector as large carriers struggle to sustain themselves. Several aircraft makers are vying to woo the new entrants to the commercial aviation.
“Most regional airlines were running short haul charter flights. However, with airports popping up in small cities, regional airlines are planning to foray into commercial aviation space,” said Mr Saurabh Shah, the head of commercial operations for Bengaluru-based airport developer Regional Airport Holdings Intern-ational (RAHI) Ltd.
The companies, who are planning to launch commercial flights or quasi- commerical flights incl-ude Bengaluru-based Dec-can, New Delhi-based Religare Voyages and Hyderabad-based Turbo Aviation.
According to an official of Religare Voyages, the company has got permission to operate a regional commercial airline Mantra, which would initially operate in north India. The operational date of the airline is yet to be decided as per a report in Deccan Chronicle.
An official of Deccan said that the company has long-term plans to start a commercial airline. But in the short term, they may run unscheduled flights to small towns.
The advent of small and short-haul aircraft, which can land on shorter runways, and the development of airports in smaller cities are expected to spur the development of regional aviation.
Under the 12th Five-Year Plan, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) plans to develop and operationalise the existing 25 small non-operations airports in the country.
Hyderabad-based regional airline Turbo, which bought a 19-seater aircraft from Czech Republic’s LET Aircraft Industries, announced its plans to start its service to tier-2 cities in Andhra Pradesh. The service is expected to start in the next four months.
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