Three new airlines to take off in south

New Delhi: Despite the consolidation mood in the airline industry, three new airlines—all looking at regional connectivity in the South—are set for take off.
The ministry of civil aviation is likely to grant permission to Air Dravida, Star Aviation and Emric Air to fly as regional airlines.
All the three fliers are eyeing the booming business in southern metros like Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai, besides other cities like Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Vishakhapattnam, Bhopal and Pune. While Air Dravida and Star Aviation would have their base in Chennai, Emric Air would operate from Kochi. Air Dravida is expected to operate with Bombardier aircraft. Star Aviation, on the other hand, plans to deploy turbo-props.
According to government policy on regional airlines, all the three carriers would have to acquire three aircraft within one year and five at the end of two years. Regional carriers are allowed to start operations with a single aircraft.
The start-up capital of regional carriers with three aircraft having take-off mass above 40,000 kg is Rs 30 crore. As per the existing guidelines aircraft with a take-off mass of less than 40,000 kg are not required to pay landing charges to the airports.
07/09/07 Nirbhay Kumar/Economic Times

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Categories: General Aviation Sep 2007, New Sep 2007, Regional Airlines Sep 2007