After 35 Years In Coma, Rupsi Airport Coming alive From September 2019

In comatose for long 35 years, Rupsi Airport in Dhubri district is coming alive from September 2019. This is what the Ministry of Civil Aviation has informed the Parliament recently. Constructed by the British during World War II to supply arms, manpower, and ammunition to the Allied forces, Rupsi Airport was functional until the 1980s. Now the Airport Authority of India (AAI) is going to include this airport into the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) – UDAN from September 2019. The AAI initiated construction work of the terminal building and strengthening and re-carpeting of the runway from May 2018 after the Bhoomi pujan (land sanctification).

The reopening of this airport has come to light in the Parliament recently when Civil Aviation Minister of State Jayant Sinha informed the House while replying to an unstarred question that ‘the air route Guwahati-Rupsi-Guwahati has been awarded to M/S Turbo Megha Airways Private Limited under RCS-UDAN and a number of Rs 71.63 crore has been allocated under the scheme for development of the airport.”
30/12/18 Sentinel

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For just Rs 1200, fly on Ahmedabad-Porbander-Ahmedabad and Ahmedabad-Jaisaler-Ahmedabad routes

Ahmedabad: Giving boost to air connectivity in Gujarat, Hyderabad-based airline Trujet has started two flights under UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) scheme or the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS). The two flights will fly between Ahmedabad-Porbander-Ahmedabad and Ahmedabad-Jaisaler-Ahmedabad. The flight services launched with 72-seater plane will charge Rs 1200 as fare from first 35 passengers, while the rest will have to pay according to the RCS norms.

Notably, flight services providing tickets at cheaper rates have not gained much success as Mumbai's Meher Air Service that started in 2015 was closed within a month. Similarly, Air Odisha also flew to connect cities in Gujarat also closed abruptly a few months ago.

However, SpiceJet services connecting Ahmedabad-Jaisaler-Ahmedabad, Surat-Jaisaler-Surat and Mumbai-Porbander-Mumbai started under UDAN scheme are still continuing.

Sudhir Raghvan, Chief Operating Officer, Trujet, told Zee Business that the company will be able to provide better services to passengers from Porbander to Dwarka-Somnath, besides the airline will also get international booking.
19/12/18 ZeeBiz

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Intra-state flight to take off tomorrow

Gujaratis can look forward to air connectivity within the state, once again. Hyderabad head-quartered TruJet set is all set to launch its services in Gujarat this week. The services will be offered under the Ude Desh ka Nagrik (UDAN) scheme. The state government’s earlier attempts to have intra-state flights had ended up as damp squibs. Interestingly, this is the second time that the service is being launched ahead of Vibrant Gujarat Summit.
In 2015, Mumbai-based Mehair had launched intrahave daily flights on Ahmedabad-Porbandar and
Ahmedabad-Jaisalmer routes, confirmed a spokesperson for the airline. The official further added that the airline will add Kandla, Keshod and Nashik to its routes after a week. Spicejet also introduced Ahmedabadstate airline services on January 2. However, launched with much fanfare ahead of VGS, it was wrapped up in just a month for want of sufficient traffic.
This time, TruJet will launch flights on two routes from Wednesday. In their introductory service, they will Jaisalmer flight under UDAN scheme before Diwali this year.
18/12/18 Ahmedabad Mirror

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Jet Airways to lease seven ATR-72 planes to TruJet to cut down on costs

Jet Airways plans to wet lease seven planes to to cut down on costs. Under a wet lease, a lessor provides pilots, maintenance, cabin crew and aircraft to a lessee. The move will result in a reduction of flights and a loss of domestic for Jet (right now at 15.5 per cent) but will assist with short-term capacity addition without worrying about a

While the two firms have been in discussions since last year, the two sides agreed in principle on a wet recently. Since the ATRs are not owned by Jet, getting a nod from the original lessor was also needed for the sublease arrangement. A formal agreement is expected to be signed later this month. Jet has 121 planes including 18 ATR-72s.

According to sources, Jet will begin wet leasing from September. These will stay in TruJet’s fleet for 18-24 months by when the original lease terms will end. “We are in a quiet season and unable to respond to your query,” a Jet spokesperson said in an email response.
11/12/18 Canton Caller

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