India to get first regional carrier
Neelam Mathews April 18, 2011 Time: 11:40pm IST Following a host of wannabes that made announcements on their intent to start regional carriers, the recession in 2009 put a halt to most plans. Now, India might now get its first regional carrier, AkashGanga Airlines expected to start its services within three months with two Embraer 140 jets. The airline will use Lucknow’s Amausi International Airport as its main base, which will also serve as the operations hub. DGCA recently loosened its guidelines to help smaller regional carriers take off. It now allows regionals a fleet size of three aircraft within two years instead of one year. The airline was conceived after detailed study and analysis because of the existing requirements/needs and the lack of connectivity between routes and networks it plans to operate, says a statement. Aerospace Daily learns it is looking to fly between what seems to be, an uncommon untried route from Lucknow to Kochi. The networks ident...