BackTurbo Megha Airways gets DGCA nod, to begin operations from 12 July
Full-service, low-fare airline gets DGCA's air operating permit, to use Rajiv Gandhi airport in Hyderabad as its hub
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Turbo Megha Airways Pvt. Ltd, promoted by Telugu actor Chiranjeevi’s son Ram Charan, has received a regional airline permit from the aviation regulator. The airline will start operating from 12 July using the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad, as its hub.
Vankayalapati Umesh, managing director of Turbo Megha Airways, said the airline received the air operating permit on Tuesday from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Umesh said Turbo Megha Airways would be a full-service airline offering low fares to passengers. “Initially, we will be connecting Tirupati and Rajahmundry from Hyderabad. Starting 27 July, we will be ramping up operations to connect more south Indian cities," he added.
Turbo Megha Airways will be operating with two 70-seater ATR planes and will have a total of five planes by January 2016, Umesh said.
Turbo Aviation Pvt. Ltd, an associate company of the airline, is currently providing ground-handling services to domestic airlines based out of Hyderabad.
The ministry of civil aviation introduced scheduled operator permits for regional airlines in August 2007 to increase air services to smaller cities. Regional airlines are required to operate services to small towns within one of the designated regions—north, south, west, east and the north-east. But they are not allowed to connect to more than one major city, except those licensed to fly in the southern region. Many of the initial applicants failed to take off, while some did only to go belly up.
In October 2013, Air Costa, run by Air Costa Aviation Pvt. Ltd, started operations as a regional airline. It continues to fly.
In April of that year, Religare Voyages Ltd, which ran Air Mantra, stopped operations of the regional airline eight months after its start because of poor bookings.
MDLR Airlines Pvt. Ltd, another regional airline, stopped flying on 1 October 2009. Several others, including Star Aviation Pvt. Ltd, ZAV Airways Pvt. Ltd, Jagson Airlines Ltd and King Air Pvt. Ltd, licensed to fly as regional airlines, failed to start operations because of high jet fuel prices and the economic slowdown of 2008.
In the case of Paramount Airways Pvt. Ltd, a scheduled airline that had a substantial southern focus, operations were suspended after the aviation regulator cancelled its licence when it fell short of the minimum five-aircraft requirement.
In a June report, aviation consultancy Capa India said a couple of new airlines are preparing to launch, but any meaningful capacity impact is unlikely until FY17.
“The proposed start-up continues to make significant progress towards its launch from a Hyderabad base, and most of its core team is in place. However, we believe a commencement of operations in Q1 of 2017 is more realistic," Capa wrote without divulging details. Capa was referring to an airline other than Turbo Megha Airways.
“In addition, we understand that serious projects in the pipeline include one major pan-India airline to be established as a joint venture with a foreign carrier, and a large regional carrier," the Capa report said.
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