Religare seeks govt nod to start regional airline

New Delhi: Religare Voyages Ltd, a subsidiary of Malvinder Singh-promoted Religare Enterprises Ltd, has applied for permission to start a regional airline that may later be expanded into a full-fledged carrier.
The concept of airlines that operate small aircraft devoted to a particular region of India was proposed by aviation minister Praful Patel three years ago, but hasn’t quite taken off.
Experts say this was because large carriers such as Air India, Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines also own a significant fleet of smaller aircraft and have left too few routes uncovered.
The Delhi-based Religare runs air-taxi services and charter operations on a non-scheduled operating airline licence with a fleet of 11 aircraft. It includes a Falcon 7X-long range luxury business jet, Falcon 2000 business jet, two Bell helicopters and two Beechcraft Hawker 1900D.
The firm has sought permission from the aviation ministry to use its two Beechcraft turboprops, with 17 seats, to launch operations.
If approved, this will be the first time that such small aircraft will fly on scheduled operations, although the model is common in the West, used by carriers such as Continental Airlines.
Religare Voyages plans to bring in some 18-50 seat aircraft over the next three years, as smaller airports do not allow planes that are any larger.
27/09/10 Tarun Shukla/Live Mint

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Categories: New Sep 2010, Regional Airlines Sep 2010, Religare Sep 2010