Manoj Chacko’s Fly 91 gets licence; to start flights soon including to Lakshadweep

NEW DELHI: A new regional airline will take to the skies this week that will, among other routes, link Lakshadweep to more cities. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Wednesday issued the air operator permit (AOP or licence) to aviation veteran- Manoj Chacko backed “Fly 91”.

The airline currently has two ATR-72 and will get four more by September after which it plans to add six turboprops annually over the next five years.
“We start operations in the next few days and have five stations to begin with — Goa, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Agatti, Sindhudurg and then Jalgaon, Pune and Nanded shortly thereafter. We will start flights between Goa & Agatti and Bengaluru & Agatti. Initially, these will be twice or thrice weekly and by mid-June our Agatti flights will be daily,” said Chacko, who has worked in senior positions in Emirates, American Express, SOPTC, Kingfisher and WNS (a global business process management company). As of now, Alliance Air is the only airline that flies to Lakshadweep nine times weekly on Kochi-Agatti-Kochi route.

Based at Goa Mopa airport, Fly 91 has been launched with an initial investment of Rs 200 crore. It has got Udan routes under which (subject to operating those flights) it will get Rs 200 crore annually over the next three years. “We are well funded and have a strong professional team to run the airline. In five years we plan to have a fleet of 32 ATRs,” Chacko said.

What explains the choice of the Goa-Agatti route?

“Goa is the charter capital of India with aircraft flying in from several places like Russia and the UK. A direct flight to Agatti will find many takers. Also a honeymooners come to Goa. They can split their stay between the two destinations,” he said.
The average flight time of different Fly 91 routes will be 55-90 minutes. “We will be offering buy-on-board service for snacks and beverages. Five to six rows of the 18 rows will have seat selection charge.”

With India now looking at two large airlines — IndiGo and Tata Group airlines led by Air India — how does Fly 91 see itself. Big airlines are known to have done network mirroring — launching flights on routes of startup or small airlines at almost the same time by pricing them a few hundred lower. IndiGo operates ATRs. Post Air India’s divestment, Alliance Air (which operate ATRs) is the only state-owned fixed wing airline. “I am here to provide last-mile connectivity and not compete with anyone. But to co-exist,” Chacko says.