Paramount Eyes India-Gulf Skies

The India-Gulf sector, one of the busiest international aviation routes in the region, will see more competition with Paramount Airways, a premium Indian carrier, planning operations to the UAE and Qatar later this year.
“We will start our international operations in the last quarter of 2010,” M. Thiagarajan, the founder and managing director of the airline, told Khaleej Times on Tuesday. “We plan operating flights to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah ?and Doha.”
The airline, with only business-class seats, has placed orders for 10 Airbus A-321 aircraft, to enable it to launch its international operations. Thiagarajan says the airline will also operate flights to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Mauritius, besides the two Gulf countries.
India’s civil aviation policy allows private airlines to start international services on completion of five years of domestic operations. Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines are the only two private airlines now operating international services.
SpiceJet and GoAir, two low-cost carriers, and Paramount Airways, the all business-class airline, are among the three private carriers that will be completing five years of domestic operations in 2010, entitling them to launch international services.
SpiceJet is expected to launch services to South and South-East Asia, while GoAir has not announced any plans for an international foray. Jet Airways operates flights to eight destinations in the Gulf from India: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Doha, Bahrain, Kuwait, Riyadh and Muscat.
17/02/10 Nithin Belle/Khaleej Times

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Categories: Foreign Feb 2010, New Feb 2010, Paramount Airways Feb 2010