Air Pegasus, India’s ninth airline carrier got Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s approval to commence its operations. The airline is based in Bengaluru and is the third new airline in a year to take off in the Indian skies after AirAsia India and Vistara Airways.
"We have received an Air Operators Permit from the DGCA, and plan to launch our ticketing system soon and launch operations in two weeks. We already have two ATR-72 aircraft in our fleet that is sufficient to operate the three sectors we plan to start flights with," Shyson Thomas, managing director of Air Pegasus, said.
The airline will initially start its operation from three sectors- Trivandrum, Hubli and Cochin, and expand its fleet to other low-cost sectors over time. "We, however, do not plan to operate to Delhi and Mumbai airports, as these are expensive airports and will only increase our cost of operations," said Thomas.
Talking about the ticket pricing, Thomas said, "Like many other airlines, we will not be selling tickets below our cost. A ticket between Rs 2,500 and Rs 3,500 would be a comfortable situation for us and we do not intend to sell below that price. But we will be providing food (some snack and juice) to all our fliers."
The airline will also induct a third aircraft in its fleet soon. "We also have plans to connect Tuticorin, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Kadapa and Rajahmundry in the southern part of India later on," he said.
The new airline, promoted by groundhandling services provider Decor Aviation, will see an initial investment of Rs 1 billion. Decor Aviation currently provides ground handling services to domestic and international carriers across 11 airports in India.
