Union Minister for Civil Aviation and Steel Jyotiraditya M Scindia recently virtually flagged off its maiden Goa-based flight FLY91, a regional airline between Manohar International Airport (MOPA) and Agatti Islands, Lakshadweep.
Chief minister Dr Pramod Sawant, who extended his wishes to the entire FLY91 team, was present to flag off the first flight. The event was also graced by the presence of Union Minister of State for Tourism Shripad Naik, Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte, MP Rajya Sabha Sadanand Tanavade and other dignitaries.
Scindia said that earlier in our country, airlines’ closure and bankruptcy used to be the news. In the past 10 years, the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought a new dawn to this industry which resulted in the birth of six new regional airlines. Scindia also highlighted the multidimensional growth of civil aviation in the country. He reiterated the government’s commitment to connecting tier 2 and tier 3 cities through the UDAN scheme and said that the aviation industry is expecting to raise its domestic traffic to 30 crores by 2030 which was just 6 crores in 2014.
The airline has been allocated its first set of routes under the government’s Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) Udey Desh ka Aam Naagarik (UDAN). The routes include Sindhudurg, Jalgaon, Nanded in Maharashtra and Agatti in Lakshadweep, along with other business and leisure destinations, namely Bengaluru, Goa, Hyderabad and Pune.
The airline’s commercial operations will begin on March 18 with its first commercial flight scheduled to take off between Manohar International Airport and Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Jalgaon, Agatti, Pune, Nanded and from Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Pune to Sindhudurg, Jalgaon, Nanded and Goa, in a phased manner. Subsequently, the daily operations will begin.
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, FLY91 Manoj Chacko announced the sale of tickets to four towns in phase one. All flights are open for sale with immediate effect.
A veteran in the travel industry Chacko said, “Today marks a major milestone for FLY91 in our effort to make air travel more accessible as part of our vision for Bharat Unbound. We reiterate our commitment to our customers that FLY91 is aligned with the goal towards offering last-mile connectivity and making air travel in India accessible, safe and reliable. We aim to be part of India’s ongoing economic transformation by creating robust regional connectivity, which is crucial to economic growth.”
FLY91 operates two ATR 72-600 aircraft, and the company is confident it will add six more planes within the first year of its operation and later induct six-seven ATRs annually over the next five years to have about 40 planes in total.
The carrier, operated by Just Udo Aviation Pvt Ltd, seeks to enhance air connectivity across Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
FLY91 which will have a fleet of 70-seater ATR 72-600 aircraft, has raised USD 25 million, and plans to connect 50 cities in 5 years, Chacko said.
He added, “We are also a pure-play digital airline. Everything that we do whether it is customer touchpoint and the way we fly our customers is digitally focussed.”
Dr Sawant said, “It is a moment of joy to know that Chacko from Porvorim started the Goa-based airline and I wish more such Goans come forward.”
He added, “Under the Prime Minister’s ‘Dekho Apna Desh’ scheme, the launch of FLY91 will ensure more air connectivity and boost tourism in the state. In the future, this airport will have cargo operations too.”
On saying that the aviation industry is booming, Dr Sawant requested, “GMR to start skilling and re-skilling of youngsters. Around 1000 youth have been trained but we need another set of about 1000 to be future-ready.”
