Govt to wind up Vayudoot

New Delhi: Vayudoot, the government’s dream project to connect small cities, will soon become history. The civil aviation ministry is preparing a Cabinet note to close the airline, currently an arm of state-run Air India (AI).
The government had planned to revive Vayudoot in the recent past to improve connectivity to small towns and cities. There were also plans to sell the brand.
In its new avatar, Vayudoot was to operate as a feeder service, bringing traffic from small towns to larger cities and state capitals and from there, to other national and international destinations.
As a part of the plan, it was to operate from states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and the northeast region, which have over 50 small airstrips or airports, mostly not in use.
Plans were put in place to connect these smaller destinations with AI’s hub at Terminal 3 in the Delhi airport. As a part of the plan, the airline, which does not have any aircraft now, was to operate four types of aircraft depending on demand: 15-20-seat, 50-seat, 120-180-seat and 300-seat aircraft. These aircraft were to be taken on lease.
23/12/11 Mihir Mishra/Business Standard

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Categories: Air India Dec 2011