‘Our Target Is To Increase The Aircraft Fleet From 24 To 60 In Five Years’

Ronojoy Dutta, president, Air Sahara in an exclusive meeting with select travel trade partners and the media, talks about major developments with regards to the airline.

The Indian aviation industry is booming and that is evident from the new launch and more connectivity. "There is a lot of development on the Air Sahara front. W e have inducted six planes and a spare aircraft which is a necessity with the growth. Even the terminal expansion provides more room, which is a welcome change. There would be increased focus on reliability, training and maintenance; in this regard we have hired Alan Marken from EasyJet to handle the maintenance. This would also mean a lot of investment and time in this area. On the aircraft front, our target is to increase from 24 aircraft to a total of 60 aircraft in the next five years."

Commenting on the increased air capacity, Dutta mentioned that in the coming months the aviation industry will see the launch of three new airlines at the same time, which is not a good sign considering the space crunch at the airports. This sudden growth has led to the most appalling act of poaching of pilots, especially by Air-India Express and SpiceJet. Though it is becoming a trend, this industry needs to be disciplined. Airlines companies need to realise that if they are inducting more aircraft, planning needs to be done. Nonetheless, we are looking at growth in Air Sahara and a lot of effort will be put in on the training and maintenance front."

Reports Charmaine Fernz - Mumbai