The Slow, Steady Upward Trend of Regional Airlines in India

IndiaOne Air has commenced operations from Kolkata, India to connect Jamshedpur and Bhubhaneshwar via two domestic routes. It is a regional airline based in the western Indian state of Gujarat. However, its operations are focused on the eastern part of the country.

The primary objective of the airline is to cater to Tier II and III cities of the country. Regular destinations are Bhubhaneshwar, Visakhapatnam, Jamshedpur, Jeypore and the metropolitan city of Kolkata.

What distinguishes the airline is that it is the first and only scheduled single-engine operator in India. The small airline has a fleet of 2 Cessna 208B Grand Caravan EX with another one on order. The seating capacity of each plane is nine.

The unique feature about this airline is the fact that there has been no shortage of regional airlines in the country, with most of them going belly up.

The extension of services of the airline is testament to the fact that there is justifiable demand to cater to such smaller cities as the standard of living and the disposable income has increased. Additionally, there is an ongoing trend of businesspeople and professionals having to travel to state capitals.

Additionally, there have been significant enthusiasm and steps taken by the national government in order to bolster regional air connectivity and to stimulate economic growth. To a certain, such policies were successful as the government were providing subsidies to airlines to operate on several low demand routes in order at least kickstart some demand. It did work somewhat at certain select locations and routes only.

LCCs like SpiceJet and IndiGo were also involved in this initiative by the Government of India. Even if their aircraft flew partly empty, airlines still continued to operate as long as they continued to receive subsidies.

Other regional airlines in the country at the moment include Alliance Air, FlyBig and Star Air.

Alliance Air is an airline owned by the Government. Operating a fleet of ATR 42-600, ATR 72-600 and a singular Dornier 228. It has 75 destinations across the country.

FlyBig is a fairly new airline, which commenced flights in December 2020 with an aim to provide connectivity to Tier II cities. It has an active fleet of three ATR 72-500/600s with 10 DHC Twin Otters on order.

Star Air is the second most established regional airline in the country after Alliance Air, serving 17 domestic destinations with a fleet of three active Embraer ERJ 145LR with 4 Embraer 175 on order. The airline has had a steady and consistent growth since its first flight in January 2019.

India has a strong presence of domestic and international airlines, its regional connectivity is also developing, slowly but surely. At this pace, India will continue seeing the boom and growth in its aviation sector, and not just from domestic and international flights, but also from regional activities.

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Devaansh Dhoot

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