NEW DELHI, India (NNN-Bernama) -- G R Gopinath, who introduced the first low-cost airline in India with Air Deccan and later sold it off to Kingfisher promoter Vijay Mallya, now plans to launch another scheduled carrier.
"I have got the clearance," Gopinath told Press Trust of India but refused to elaborate more, saying he would "speak at the right time."
Gopinath, who now runs Deccan Charters that started in 1997, received a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Civil Aviation Ministry almost two months ago to launch a new carrier.
Gopinath's no frill carrier Air Deccan launched in 2003 became the number two airline in terms of the number of passengers flown within two years.
In 2007, Vijay Mallya's UB Group bought a 26 per cent stake in it and eventually completed a takeover after buying shares through an open offer.
This deal had a five-year non-compete clause, the term of which would end in the next few months, industry sources said.
After Air Deccan was sold, Gopinath launched a cargo service, Deccan 360, which did not do well. A plan to start a regional air transport service in Gujarat also did not take off.
The Deccan Charters currently has a fleet of 12 choppers and three turboprop planes, and five private jets. It has a non-scheduled operator permit. --NNN-BERNAMA
0 comments:
Post a Comment