Expansion Of Jet, Sahara Fleets Cleared

The ministry of civil aviation has cleared the Jet Airways and Sahara Airlines proposals for acquiring a large number of small aircraft. This will give a major boost to the regional airline operations in India.

At the Aircraft Acquisition Committee meet on December 2, it is understood that Jet's application for five planes and Sahara's application for 10 aircraft were considered. Sources in the two companies said acquisition of a substantial number of aircraft had been cleared.

Ministry officials, however, said the committee's recommendations could be implemented only after the secretary and the minister for civil aviation gave their nod. NEPC's application was deferred as no company representative was present in the meeting.

 

Further, the Calcutta-based regional operator Bengal Air, is due to start operations in the fourth week of December. The carrier has inducted one aircraft and will bring in another after a month. It plans to acquire five 44 seater planes from a Canadian manufacturer and will operate on routes like Calcutta-Bagdogra and Calcutta-Shillong.

Sources said the flurry of activity in the regional airline sector has come even as two regional operators Span Air and UP Air have stopped operations. The sources said these airlines were operating with a very small fleet of one or two aircraft which was unviable. However, United Airways and Gujarat Airways were still operating.

Sahara Airline was given clearance for induction of 5-6 ATR's in 1996, according to the sources. However, Sahara changed its application several times and has now asked for permission to induct ATPs.

It is not clear whether induction of all 15 aircraft has been cleared. It is learnt that with the Parliament in session, the ministry is hesitant to release the exact details of the permission granted.

The government earlier approved induction of 13 aircraft and 5 helicopters to non-scheduled operators, who run smaller aircraft such as Kingair and Beachcraft. The Aircraft Acquisition Committee meeting has been held after a huge gap, the last one being held in April. However, the final ministry approval was given on June 25. The private scheduled operators are using around 35 Boeings. The fleet strength of smaller aircraft will be 60-65.