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Air Costa to go pan-India in summer 2016

Last Updated 18 December 2015, 18:16 IST

 Regional air carrier Air Costa on Friday said it is planning to expand its operations across the country by next summer. The regional airline has received a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Civil Aivation Ministry for its flying permit.

The NOC enables the airline to apply for Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s (DGCA) flying permit. “This is a formidable step in the journey of Air Costa towards being a sustainable Airline in India. This is also a testimony to the efforts of all members of the Air Costa family,” Ramesh Lingamaneni, Air Costa Chairman, said.

At present, Vijayawada-based Air Costa operates on regional routes, especially in destinations across south India. “Pan-India operations shall commence from the summer schedule of 2016,” Air Costa deputy chief executive officer Vivek Choudhary said.

Once it gets the DGCA clearance, it plans to connect major destinations like Delhi, Bhubaneswar, Varanasi and Pune. It currently has 32 daily flights and connects nine cities —- Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Tirupati, Coimbatore, Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada.

The airline is adding a 110-seater E190 this month to its fleet. “This, followed by an addition in February 2016, shall take our fleet to five aircrafts, followed by further additions in 2016,” Choudhary said.

Lingamaneni said Air Costa is a two-year young airline having celebrated its second anniversary in October 2015. “From operating two Embraer aircraft to five destinations with 300 employees, in a year’s time we have doubled ourselves to four aircraft serving nine destinations with close to 800 employees,” he said.

According the airline, the “next big growth wave” is going to come from the developing cities.


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(Published 18 December 2015, 18:16 IST)

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