Goa based Fly91 gets air operator certificate; to begin operations soon

Goa based Just Udo Aviation Pvt Ltd has received air operator’s certificate from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). With this, the firm can operate its airline Fly91.

The certificate is granted after the completion of all regulatory and compliance requirements. The airline in a statement mentioned that it will begin its commercial operations soon.

"We now look forward to commencing the sale of tickets leading to the start of commercial operations soon," managing director and chief executive officer of Fly91, Manoj Chacko said

Airline routes

Under the government's regional connectivity scheme UDAN, or Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik, the airline has been allocated its first set of routes including Sindhudurg, Jalgaon, Nanded and Agatti from Bangalore, Goa, Hyderabad and Pune.

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As per Mint, the regional airline currently has a fleet of two ATR 72-600 aircraft, which it leased in January from Dubai Aerospace Enterprise. The airline is identified with the code IC and aims to enhance air connectivity and tap the growing demand in tier-2 and tier-3 cities. Fly91 is also the first Indian airline to use Goa’s Manohar International Airport as its home base.

Fly91's plans

Fly91 is planning to strengthen last-mile connectivity by including 50 cities across India in its network under its five-year plan. It also aims to induct 30 aircraft into its fleet which will be based at multiple hubs across the country.

Fly91 which is India's youngest airline also has plans to make its product globally known as well. Earlier it had told Mint that it had held discussions with global as well as domestic carriers to offer its product to them in order to become a last-mile connectivity provider that can “co-exist" with other airlines.

“I can tell you that we are in conversation with two domestic and three international airlines, and especially the international airlines are very keen to, kind of, look at aligning our network with theirs, so that, they can connect into some of the other cities that we would potentially connect," Chacko had told Mint.

Fly19's product offering includes providing flight for a distance which would normally take 8-12 hours by road or rail to cover by offering a competitive ticket price thus improving the regional connectivity.

“We're going to be a very warm airline, we're going to be a friendly airline. We're just going to have a one-line fare rule, that's it, you know, you buy a ticket and travel, if you cancel, you rebook, there's a particular penalty you pay and that's it, period, so its going back to the basics," Chacko had told Mint.

However, for now the company will set up its first base at the Mopa airport of Goa, followed by bases in north, west, east, and south of the country with six-seven aircraft parked at each of the bases. As per Mint, it is also exploring operations at Hindon airport, upcoming Noida International airport at Jewar, Navi Mumbai airport, and Nasik, among others.

Fly91 is led by aviation industry veteran Manoj Chacko who has nearly three decades of experience. He has worked both with large corporations as well as startups across Emirates, Kingfisher Airlines, SOTC, and WNS Global Services, among others.

Harsha Raghavan the former head of Fairfax India has also invested in Fly91. His investment firm Convergent Finance has pledged ₹200 crore as the project outlay for the upcoming airline. The airline’s early investors also include Rajeev Chitrabhanu, founder of investment platform Magnetic.