Religare, KRC to float regional airlines connecting North India

New Delhi: Two business groups based in Delhi and Noida are braving hostile market conditions, including an intense price war, to launch a regional airline.
The financial services group Religare and KRC, a Noidabased group, will start operations in the next few months linking the important cities in northern India, executives of both groups said. Religare Voyages, the aviation arm of Religare, got a no objection certificate (NOC) from the ministry of civil aviation about two weeks ago and plans to start operations in four months with 17-seater Beechcraft 1900D aircraft.
"We will be getting two of the aircraft from Religare Charters to kickstart regional operations and then look at scaling up in times to come," said Sandeep Bhatt, CEO, Religare Voyages. Religare Charters is a group company doing airline chartering with a 12-fleet aircraft.
Karina Airlines International Ltd, the aviation arm of KRC Group, will begin operations in less than a year, its chief executive officer (CEO) said. The firm got the NOC on Tuesday. "There is demand in underserved areas, which is likely to constitute 40% of India's traffic over the next decade and I won't be surprised if 5-10 players enter this market over the next three years," Karina Airlines MD Namrata Chawla said.
KRC Group has businesses is healthcare, hospitality, real estate and services sector. The flagship company of KRC Group is Goodwill Hospital and Research Centre, which is running a super multispecialty hospital in Noida.
10/11/11 Economic Times

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Karina Airlines, New Nov 2011, Religare Nov 2011