Vijayawada-based airline Air Costa currently flies from its base to cities like Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Jaipur, and Hyderabad. However, chairman Ramesh Lingamaneni has plans for a pan-India presence by the end of the year and has already placed orders with Brazil’s Embraer SA for 50 E-Jet E2 planes, estimated to be priced at about $2.94 billion, with purchase rights for an additional 50 jets. In an interview with Rhik Kundu, Lingamaneni discusses his strategy. Excerpts:
In February, Air Costa inked a deal for 50 jets worth $2.94 billion with Embraer SA of Brazil. What next?
Air Costa has become the first customer of E-Jet E2s in the Indian aviation market. We will have 8-10 aircraft delivered by March 2015 and plan to add four aircraft every year — one aircraft each quarter — until 2018 when the new order joins.
Are you looking to expand your operations in India?
We are planning to expand our operations by March 2015. Our strategy is to serve the Tier-II and III cities and connect them to the Tier-I cities.
At present, since we hold a regional operator licence, we can’t connect major metros or Tier-I cities. But we plan to get a pan-India permit before this year end.
09/04/14 Rhik Kundu/Financial Express
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In February, Air Costa inked a deal for 50 jets worth $2.94 billion with Embraer SA of Brazil. What next?
Air Costa has become the first customer of E-Jet E2s in the Indian aviation market. We will have 8-10 aircraft delivered by March 2015 and plan to add four aircraft every year — one aircraft each quarter — until 2018 when the new order joins.
Are you looking to expand your operations in India?
We are planning to expand our operations by March 2015. Our strategy is to serve the Tier-II and III cities and connect them to the Tier-I cities.
At present, since we hold a regional operator licence, we can’t connect major metros or Tier-I cities. But we plan to get a pan-India permit before this year end.
09/04/14 Rhik Kundu/Financial Express
