The first private commercial airline serving the North Eastern region was given a no objection certificate (NOC) by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) on Wednesday. Guwahati-based JettWings Airways has been cleared to operate scheduled commuter air transport services under the government’s regional connectivity scheme UDAN and hopes to start its service by the end of this calendar.
The airline proposes to start operations with two twin-class Embraer E175 aircraft serving 16 routes, after obtaining all necessary regulatory approvals and an Air Operator Certificate (AOC) from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
“Aircraft will be acquired on the sale and leaseback (SLB) model. We are in talks with both lessors and Embraer for leasing aircraft and we will receive the first two by October,” a company spokesperson told DH.
The airline is a joint effort of Sanjive Narain, owner of Assam's oldest news channel Prag News and Sanjay Aditya Singh, promoter of a cabin crew training academy - JettWings Group of Institutes - offering aviation, hospitality and tourism management courses.
"We have earmarked Rs 100-crore investment in the airline in the initial phase. We will add 3 more aircraft within 6 months of starting operations within the Northeast and will connect with the rest of India later," Sanjive Narain, Chairman of Jettwings Airways told DH. “Initially when we started, we thought we would break even in the fifth year, but now the way the aviation industry is moving, we can break even in three years or even earlier,” he added.
The airline will offer premium economy services for regional travel with a dual configuration having 12 seats in club class (business class) and the rest 64 seats in economy. Talking about concerns about rising airfares, Narain said, “Today airfares are skyrocketing even for the economy, this is where we want to differentiate by providing premium economy experience to our customers at competitive prices.” Additionally, Jettwings Airways plans to introduce a loyalty program to reward frequent flyers.
This airline hopes to undo the paucity of airlink to the North Eastern states. The Indian government did make an effort to remedy the situation when it set up Vayudoot in 1981 but as the operations became unsustainable, it pulled the plug on the airline in 1997. Presently, budget carrier Indigo has a few services to a few destinations in the region.
“Northeast as a region has been overtly neglected. After Vayudoot left, it has been a ridiculously underserved market. Northeast as a market has got immense potential and any player who believes in this market has to be deep-pocketed too,” said Mark D Martin MRAeS, chief executive of Martin Consulting. Embraer, according to Martin and other experts, is a perfect choice for this region as it comes with the right range and efficient short-take capabilities among other features.
“The main strategy for us is that we have no competition here in the northeast region,” Narain underscored.
Jettwings Airways is entering a highly competitive aviation market, but the company is confident that it can carve out a niche for itself. Earlier this year, Fly91, another regional carrier seeking to enhance air connectivity from tier 2 and tier 3 towns across India, received the NOC from the MoCA. It is also set to start operations this winter.