Air Pegasus to Make Bangalore its Hub

Tuesday, 21st January 2014 at 02:26am

In a country whose aviation industry is suffering a hard beating in recent years, no one would ever think investors would be interested to pour their capital in an industry troubled by huge losses and indebtedness.

Nevertheless, India will soon see another airline taking off, crowding the already crowded and troubled skies with the planned launch of Air Pegasus in the latter part of the first quarter of this year.

Air Pegasus, planned to be a low-cost carrier, is the brainchild of Shyson Thomas who founded Decor Group of Companies. His Aviation Private Ltd., a leading ground handling company, meanwhile, will contribute $15 million to set up the new carrier. The Canara Bank is also extending a loan amounting to $5 million to help finance the airline.

The new budget carrier is reportedly planning to make Bangalore its hub of operations. It will initially utilize a fleet of three small planes such as the ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop during its maiden operations. It will increase its fleet to six later in the year with the addition of three more similar type of aircraft.

Air Pegasus will initially start with 25 flights daily from Bangalore to destinations within the range of the short-haul regional airliner.

Shyson Thomas, also the airline's chairman and Managing Director, said that the airline will offer tickets Rs750 to Rs1,000 lower than most of its competitors flying the same routes.

Based on the recent report by Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation, four out of five Indian carriers reported losses during the last fiscal year. On average, an Indian airline lost $24 for every passenger that it carried during the period.

Foreseeing the tremendous costs in airline operations, the airline will outsource its ground handling services to Decor Aviation Private Ltd. for, to save on operating costs. The use of fuel-efficient aircraft such as the ATR 72 turboprops, also helps the airline to reduce costs.

Air Pegasus will initially focus on the southern cities of India for its maiden operations linking Bangalore with Chennai, Goa, Hubli, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Tirupati, Mangalore and Vizag.

The long-term plan is to create a hub in Ahmedabad for the western sector, Kolkata for the east sector and Delhi for the north sector, according to the same airline official. The ultimate goal is to cover the entire country.

The airline is already mulling to fly overseas as soon as the government scraps the outdated aviation law, particularly the 5/20 law, which requires local airlines to operate in the country for, at least, 5 years and keep a fleet of no less than 20 aircraft before they can launch international flights. By then, it is eying to launch twin routes namely: Thiruvananthapuram-Mali and Kolkata-Dhaka.

India will soon see another airline taking off with the planned launch of Air Pegasus in the latter part of the first quarter of this year.

By: Pete Lee.