Umapathy Pinaghapani-promoted carrier to order 40 Airbus A320s

Upcoming airline will be called EasyAir and Premier Airways will remain its registered name

Over the past three decades, Umapathy Pinaghapani has set up businesses in diverse sectors such as retail, finance and software, amongst others, but his latest venture is perhaps the most ambitious.

Pinaghapani is close to finalising a multi-billion dollar deal to acquire 40 Airbus A320neo planes for Premier Airways, an upcoming no-frills airline. The airline will be called EasyAir and Premier Airways will remain its registered name.

Pinaghapani, along with other local and NRI businessmen, founded Premier Airways in August 2005 to provide a “high-quality low-cost scheduled air transport operation” but secured initial no-objection clearance from civil aviation ministry only last July. The airline is yet to receive a permit from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to launch services.

PREMIERING SOON

• The airline may start operations from Hyderabad, which is better placed with regard to availability of slots and presence of an aircraft maintenance unit  
• It is said to have explored Bengaluru and Chennai as hubs but may select Hyderabad as its base, sources said
• The airline is developing its management team by hiring senior executives from other airlines

Premier Airways may start operations from Hyderabad airport, which is better placed with regard to availability of slots and presence of an aircraft maintenance and repair unit. The airline is said to have explored Bengaluru and Chennai as hubs but may select Hyderabad as its base, sources said.

Premier Airways would have to lease planes to begin operations as deliveries from Airbus are expected only from 2019-20. The airline is developing its management team by hiring senior executives from other airlines. Until now, it has roped in Harish Moideen Kutty (from SpiceJet) as head of commercial, Captain N P Puri (from SpiceJet) as head of operations, Ramdarsan Thakur (from Air Costa) as engineering head and Ravichandran Subramanian as company secretary and head of human resource and legal.

Airbus and Hyderabad airport spokespersons did not comment. Pinaghapani, too, did not respond to emails and text messages, seeking his comments.

The airline’s office is located at Anna Nagar, one of the posh areas in Chennai. A correspondent, who visited the office on Thursday, was not allowed to meet anyone. Local residents claimed the airline office is operating for nearly 10 years.

An engineer from Coimbatore Institute of Technology, Pinaghapani, worked in engineering and machine tool firms in Tamil Nadu before taking up lectureship in CIT Sandwich Polytechnic Group for 12 years till 1996. He then moved to the US to take up a job as software consultant and later set up a software design and development company there. Later, he moved back to set up business in Coimbatore. Yet he seems to have kept a low profile. Industrialists from the city whom Business Standard spoke to said they were not aware of him.

Pinaghapani’s LinkedIn profile describes him as a founding partner of Textek, manufacturer of automobile electronic flashers with contracts from Ashok Leyland and public sector transport undertakings. He is also the founding partner of Emeral Granites, Coimbatore, an export unit manufacturing granite tiles and slabs.