India’s fiercely competitive aviation industry will soon have a new airline.
But there isn’t a foreign carrier or a business conglomerate involved this time around. Rather, Air Kerala will be owned by the south Indian state of Kerala, also known as “God’s own country” because of its natural beauty.
Once operational, Air Kerala will be the only Indian airline to be owned by a state government, and the third airline to be launched in India since 2014, after Vistara and AirAsia India.
The airline is expected to be operational by November this year and will initially serve domestic routes before flying internationally—mainly to the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC)—where millions of Keralites live.
As many as 2.3 million people from Kerala live outside India, of which 90% live in the middle eastern countries such as United Arab Emirates and and Saudi Arabia. The remittances from Keralites abroad—amounting to Rs72,500 crore ($11.6 billion)—have been the backbone of the state’s economy.
Air Kerala International Services (AKIS) was set up by Kerala’s state government in 2006 and as of 2014, despite not operating a single aircraft, has an accumulated loss of Rs1.51 crore ($250,000).
Most of these losses were due to “professional charges” and “office expenses,” according to the company’s balance sheet, available with the ministry of corporate affairs. AKIS is owned by the Cochin International Airport (CIAL), which holds 99.99% stake in the venture as of March 2014.
In January, the state government had reportedly started a feasibility study and negotiations with aircraft operators to lease planes.
Even though several Kerala-based newspapers reported that the airline would start flying in November, officials contacted by Quartz didn’t provide a definite timeline.
23/03/15 Quartz India
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But there isn’t a foreign carrier or a business conglomerate involved this time around. Rather, Air Kerala will be owned by the south Indian state of Kerala, also known as “God’s own country” because of its natural beauty.
Once operational, Air Kerala will be the only Indian airline to be owned by a state government, and the third airline to be launched in India since 2014, after Vistara and AirAsia India.
The airline is expected to be operational by November this year and will initially serve domestic routes before flying internationally—mainly to the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC)—where millions of Keralites live.
As many as 2.3 million people from Kerala live outside India, of which 90% live in the middle eastern countries such as United Arab Emirates and and Saudi Arabia. The remittances from Keralites abroad—amounting to Rs72,500 crore ($11.6 billion)—have been the backbone of the state’s economy.
Air Kerala International Services (AKIS) was set up by Kerala’s state government in 2006 and as of 2014, despite not operating a single aircraft, has an accumulated loss of Rs1.51 crore ($250,000).
Most of these losses were due to “professional charges” and “office expenses,” according to the company’s balance sheet, available with the ministry of corporate affairs. AKIS is owned by the Cochin International Airport (CIAL), which holds 99.99% stake in the venture as of March 2014.
In January, the state government had reportedly started a feasibility study and negotiations with aircraft operators to lease planes.
Even though several Kerala-based newspapers reported that the airline would start flying in November, officials contacted by Quartz didn’t provide a definite timeline.
23/03/15 Quartz India
