Star Air, a Bengaluru-based regional airline, has signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) with Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC) for two Embraer E175 aircraft. NAC is one of the largest regional aircraft lessors in the world.
The announcement was made at a press event organized by Embraer at the Farnborough International Airshow in the United Kingdom, in presence of senior officials from Embraer and Star Air.
Presently, Star Air operates a fleet of 5 Embraer E145 aircraft, making it the only airline in India to have an all-Embraer fleet (if we do not count Star Air’s helicopter services).
Since its launch in January 2019, Star Air has focused on regional connectivity from metros to tier-2 and tier-3 cities, remaining true to its slogan “Connecting Real India”. In fact, the first metro-to-metro route that was launched by the airline was between Bengaluru and Hyderabad, that too only last year.
Shrenik Ghodawat, Director, Star Air, said:
After witnessing a strong recovery in air travel, we are excited to partner with Embraer as we constantly aim at Connecting Real India and make travel accessible, reliable, and affordable. As the fastest-growing Indian regional airline, we are excited to touch new horizons and explore the skies with great vigor. The E175 aircraft will not only add flexibility and efficiency to our network but will also strengthen our customer relations as we provide them with an unparalleled flying experience.
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Star Air states that it is “confident” that it will start operating E175s by November 2022. Presently, the carrier operates to 18 cities in India. They are:
- Ahmedabad
- Ajmer (Kishangarh)
- Bengaluru
- Belagavi
- Delhi (Hindon)
- Hubli
- Indore
- Jamnagar
- Jodhpur
- Kalaburagi
- Mumbai
- Nashik
- Surat
- Tirupati
- Hyderabad
- Nagpur
- Bhuj
- Bidar
Embraer E175 is the stretched version of E170 and is capable of accommodating between 68 to 88 passengers depending on the configuration.
Many of Star Air’s routes have been doing very well, with the airline reporting 80% average occupancy on a consistent basis. If the airline decides to swap the aircraft from E145LR to a E175 on some routes or adds frequencies, either way, the airline will have a very wide choice of routes to decide from.
Meanwhile, Star Air recently launched a new flight to Bhuj from Ahmedabad.
Featured image by Star Air
What do you think of Star Air expanding its fleet with bigger aircraft than what it currently has? Let me know in the comments section below.
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