Alliance Air to lease 10 ATRs; seeks to boost regional

Air India's regional arm Alliance Air plans to induct 10 new leased ATR aircraft into its fleet as it seeks to penetrate more into un-served and under-served routes besides switching to a single-model fleet.
These aircraft would be taken on dry lease between April this year and March, 2017, an Alliance Air spokesperson said.
A wholly-owned subsidiary of state-controlled Air India Limited, Alliance Air operates point-to-point air services to 26 cities with the majority of them being tier-II and tier-111 cities.
It has a fleet of 11 aircraft -- eight ATRs and three CRJs.
"Air India has embarked on Connect India programme under which it aims to bring smaller (tier-2/tier-3) cities on the country's air network map. The leasing of 10 ATRs for a period of 12 years will help Alliance Air not only enhance frequencies on the existing routes but also commence services on some newer regional routes which remain off the aviation map as of now," the spokesperson said.

The proposed civil aviation policy, which is in an advanced stage of finalisation, also focuses on boosting regional connectivity and Air India's programme is in line with the same, he said.

In the draft policy, the government has proposed a regional connectivity scheme (RCS) from April 1, 2016, and an all-inclusive fares of up to Rs 2,500 per passenger for a one- hour flight on RCS routes.
The airline has already invited bids from interested parties in this regard, the spokesperson said, adding that the supplier of these planes would also have to provide up to 50 pilots for a minimum period of two years.

Alliance Air also plans to phase out three CRJs from the next fiscal, the spokesperson added.