Air Costa to begin operations next month

HYDERABAD: Air Costa, the first ever regional domestic airline based out of India’s Southern state Andhra Pradesh, announced starting no-frills air carrier services connecting Southern cities in a month’s time.

Part of the Vijayawada-based construction group LEPL, Air Costa said it will launch the airline with a fleet of three E jets from Embraer suited for the regional short-haul connectivity between tier-II and tier-III cities with the major metros.

Air Costa will have its maintenance based and headquarters at Vijayawada where the aircrafts have already landed with major approvals in place. The final approval from the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is expected in a week or so, said its chief executive officer Captain KN Babu.

The air carrier plans to operate flights to six stations in the first phase in South connecting Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Vijayawada and expand operations to secondary cities in the North and North Eastern region in the next phase after reviewing operations for three months, he said.

Air Costa chairman and managing director Ramesh Lingamaneni said the regional air services offered large potential in India in general and South India in particular where economy in the Southern cities was booming. Thanking Embraer for providing support for the launch of Air Costa, he said his company was looking “forward for to a long successful and mutually rewarding relationship” with Embraer.