Regional airline MDLR plans to cut operations

Mumbai: A year after the government introduced a policy to boost regional airlines that would serve smaller cities, MDLR Airlines Pvt. Ltd, the only such carrier in the country, has decided to scale down its operations, blaming regulatory restrictions.
The airline now plans to switch back to its earlier business model of leasing out planes.
“We are struggling as our operations are restricted within one metro, that is Delhi,” said Koustav M. Dhar, executive director (marketing and planning), MDLR Airlines. “We had made more money when we were operating as a non-scheduled operator connecting more than one metro.”
The ministry of civil aviation had introduced so-called scheduled operator permits for regional airlines in August 2007, to increase air services to smaller cities.
Regional airlines are required to operate in the small towns within one of the designated regions—North, South, West, East and the North-East region. But, they are not allowed to connect to more than one major city, except those licenced to fly in the southern region.
Airlines with non-scheduled licences are not allowed to publicize their flight schedules the way carriers such as Jet Airways (India) Ltd or Kingfisher Airlines Ltd can. In effect, these airlines operate more like charter flights. MDLR connects smaller cities in the northern sector, including New Delhi, with a fleet of three BAe regional jet aircraft.
09/08/08 P.R. Sanjai/Livemint

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Categories: MDLR Aug 2008, Regional Airlines Aug 2008