Airport ground handling services firm Décor Aviation is setting up a new low-cost carrier which would start with regional flights in the south India under the banner of Air Pegasus. The carrier, which is expected to commence operations in the next two months, will have Bangalore as its hub, its promoter Shyson Thomas told The Times of India.
Thomas said the airlines would be funded with some $15 million coming from Décor Aviation and debt funding of $5 million from Canara Bank.
Aviation is a capital intensive industry and the future expansion of the new carrier would depend on whether it can rope in a financial or strategic partner. The government had opened up the domestic aviation business.
Air Pegasus will fly 25 sectors every day with three 72-seater ATR aircraft, initially. By the end of the year, the company plans to expand fleet to six aircraft and aims to offer cheaper fares than airlines operating in the sectors under its network.
It will initially connect Bangalore with Hyderabad, Chennai, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Hubli, Mangalore, Goa, Tirupati and Vizag. Latter it will expand into the west and east regions with Ahmedabad and Kolkata as regional hubs followed by Delhi as hub for the northern region.
Its entire airport handling operations would be outsourced to parent firm Décor Aviation.
Air Pegasus will compete with a bunch of players who have hubs in south India including SpiceJet. AirAsia has also made Chennai its hub for the country for its upcoming Indian carrier.
(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)
