By the end of this year, Air Pegasus plans to fly to at least 23 destinations in south India. Shyson Thomas, Managing Director of the company, said of the achievement: "For 15 years, we were offering and continue to offer ground handling services to several major airlines in the market. We had every other service in place and the only missing piece was the aircraft, to start a new airline. That is what we did over three months ago and started Air Pegasus from Bengaluru."
After investing some Rs 100 crore in the airline, the company has leased two aircrafts – ATR 72 500s – with a seating capacity of 66, and have signed a further three lease agreements for aircrafts from Vietnam Airlines, which should available by end of the year, according to Thomas.
He continues, "Come to think of it, Indigo and Jet Airways also started out as ground handling service providers under the names InterGlobe Enterprises and Tailwinds Private Ltd respectively. Unlike the larger airlines that focus only on the long routes, we would target only on the small towns and connect them to cities, from where travellers will reach international destinations."
The main point of contention that the companies will face is building up a reputation for their unknown brand. This may prove a struggle against the tough competition in the form of existing commercial carriers.
Managing Director of TruJet, V Umesh, commented on the challenge ahead: "We have learned from the mistakes and experiences of the other airlines and that is our strength. For example, from Kingfisher, we learned how to create a brand and from Air Deccan we learned how to run low-cost operations. We also learned not to expand too fast and too wide. We would be avoiding all the possible pitfalls," he added.
In July last, TruJet received approval to start scheduled air services from the ministry of civil aviation. According to Umesh, the airline is currently permitted to operate in south India and intends to apply for authorisation to operate in the western region, too. He remarked: "Twenty investors, most of whom are my friends, have invested in the company. We intend to invest about Rs 500 crore over the next five years."
Operations began on July 12 on the Hyderabad-Tirupati-Hyderabad and Hyderabad-Rajahmundry-Hyderabad routes and the carrier also operates flights to cities including Chennai, Bengaluru and Aurangabad.
