Star Air CEO Simran Singh Tiwana said the Indian market has huge potential for regional aviation, and if an operator plays its cards right, sustaining business is not a problem. Tiwana also said the airline is aiming to double its passenger numbers this year as it grows its fleet and adds three new destinations, except Jaipur, which is set to launch on Monday.
Established in 2019 by Sanjay Ghodawat Group, a Kolhapur-based diversified business house, the airline has a fleet of five Embraer aircraft operating from its two operational bases, Bengaluru and Belagavi, to 16 destinations under the central government’s regional connectivity scheme, UDAN.
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“There is a lot of regional potential in India that is untapped. I think regional travel can grow fivefold in the next five years.” Tiwana said.
Asserting that it is “possible” to successfully operate a regional airline in India, he said, “You play your cards right, go for the right network, which suits the aircraft you operate (and) which is a big makes a difference (in terms of maintaining operations). According to him, Star Air is operationally profitable.
Tiwana said, “I think regional connectivity exists beyond short-haul routes. If we think it is connecting smaller stations with Mumbai, Delhi, then we need to think differently about it.”
However, he added that wildlife issues, some gaps in runway operations and watch-out hours at some flight airports are some of the challenges for regional air operators.
He said, “Our business model is not competing with anyone else in India. We have a different business, a different market and we are trying to grow it.”
“Our markets are very different, and we’re eating up someone’s market share because we’re all doing the monopoly route,” he stressed.
An all-Embraer plane operator, the airline has four aircraft (E145), which are 60-seaters, and has signed lease agreements for four larger, 76-seater E175 aircraft, he said. One of these has already been inducted into the fleet, while the remaining three aircraft are planned to be inducted by September this year.
According to him, the decision to own aircraft in the early years of the airline’s inception helped it navigate and maintain operations during the pandemic because “(Owning) aircraft and operating leased aircraft are completely different.” There are two different sports.”
“And, I think a lot of startups (airlines) got it wrong,” he said in an apparent reference to several regional airlines such as Air Pegasus, Air Costa and Air Carnival, which launched on regional routes with a bang. Was, but the stomach went up. After a period of time in the last 8-9 years.
He said that in the last four-and-a-half years, the airline was preparing to move to the lease model and added that the good background of operations and cash flows made lessors comfortable (in leasing planes).
Stating that the introduction of flight services with larger aircraft to Junagadh via Hyderabad to Hyderabad is aimed both at meeting the demand and increasing capacity in a calibrated manner, he said, “We do not want to be too aggressive . The routes we’re flying are trying to mature with the times.”
On Saturday, Star Air began operating its Embraer E175 jet with a flight service on the Bangalore-Hyderabad-Jamnagar route, offering business class and economy, making it the first regional carrier to have the aircraft in twin class configuration. Went.
The airline plans to operate 20 per cent of its flights on nonessential routes, he said, adding that 12 flight routes are expected to mature in the coming months, which can then be converted into commercial routes.
Tiwana also said that Star Air would participate in the fifth round of the regional connectivity plan. “The bid opened just a few days ago. We have time till June 1 to submit the bid, but we will,” he said.