Newstrack

Indus Air to take off in September

Chetan Kapoor - Mumbai

North India-based full-service carrier, Indus Air, will finally begin operations from this September and has confirmed an order of five regional jets - two CRJ700s and three CRJ200s. It plans to invest Rs 100 crore for these aircraft on lease-cum-purchase basis for a period of ten years.

The airline was meant to launch three months ago but it was stalled since its aircraft failed to conform to the Indian DGCA standards. A company representative said, "The DGCA had some issues with our earlier CRJ200s but we have rectified them and will soon begin our operations across major metros. We already have our counters present at airports."

The source added that the aircraft will be delivered by end-September this year with which Indus Air will extend its operations from Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata. The incoming Bombardiers will have a seating capacity of 50 to 70 passengers. It will therefore benefit from the finance ministry's directive of lower ATF prices for smaller seating capacity jets.