Air Pegasus gets flying permit from DGCA

NEW DELHI: Air Pegasus, a regional carrier based out of Bengaluru, became the ninth carrier in the country after receiving a flying permit from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Tuesday.

Air Pegasus also becomes the third new airline to take to Indian skies in the past one year. While AirAsia India, Tata Sons' low-cost venture with AirAsia Berhad, started services in June 2014, Vistara, Tata Sons' joint venture company with Singapore Airlines, launched operations in January this year.

“We have received an Air Operators Permit from the DGCA, and plan to launch our ticketing system soon and launch operations in two weeks. We already have two ATR-72 aircraft in our fleet that is sufficient to operate the three sectors we plan to start flights with,“ Shyson Thomas, managing direc tor of Air Pegasus, told ET.

The three sectors that the airline plans to launch flights with its base in Bengaluru are Trivandrum, Hubli and Cochin.

“Like many other airlines, we will not be selling tickets below our cost. A ticket between Rs 2,500 and Rs 3,500 would be a comfortable situation for us and we do not intend to sell below that price. But we will be providing food (some snack and juice) to all our fliers,“ Thomas added.

The airline will also induct a third aircraft in its fleet soon. “We also have plans to connect Tuticorin, Vijaya wada, Visakhapatnam, Ka dapa and Rajahmundry in the southern part of India later on,“ he said.

The airline also has plans to launch operations in other parts of the country over a period of time. “We, however, do not plan to operate to Delhi and Mumbai airports, as these are expensive airports and will only increase our cost of operations,“ said Thomas.

The new airline, promoted by groundhandling services provider Decor Aviation, will see an initial investment of Rs 100 crore. Decor Aviation provides ground handling services to Indian and foreign carriers across 11 airports in India.