Days after a Dubai-based NRI got the first licence to run a regional airline Star Aviation, the aviation ministry has now granted this status to two non-schedule carriers of north India — MDLR and Jagson.
While the first licence was given to Star Aviation to operate from the south, an application from Northeast of ZAV airline is still pending and could be cleared soon. Which means that except the west, all the three regions will soon witness improved connectivity will have regional airlines improving their connectivity.
According to the regional policy, an airline can fly from the metro in its region to any other city in the country except any other metro.
MDLR — which currently flies to Kolkata via Ranchi and plans to link Delhi to Chennai via some small cities — may have to alter its course.
"MDLR currently have three Avros that link Delhi to Chandigarh, Ranchi, Kolkata and Jodhpur. We are acquiring two more planes next year and are in talks with other aircraft manufacturers. The plan is to link Delhi to other big tourist destinations like Port Blair, Goa and Kullu via other cities like Indore, Bhopal, Ahmedabad and Chennai," said Nupur Mehta, MDLR’s V-P. The airline got its licence on Monday. Jagson’s plans could not be known despite repeated attempts.
Saurabh Sinha/Times of India