Bookings now open for Fly91’s first set of routes

India’s newest airline Fly91 has announced its first set of routes. The airline is now accepting bookings for these flights which are scheduled to commence in just under a week from now.

First routes for Fly91

Starting 18th March 2024, Fly91 will operate 3-flights-a-week on Goa-Bengaluru-Sindhudurg-Bengaluru-Goa route while it will operate Goa-Hyderabad-Sindhudurg-Hyderabad-Goa flights 2-times-a-week. Fly91 is based at North Goa’s Manohar International Airport. The flights will operate with the following schedule:

Fly91 currently has a single ATR72-600 in its fleet, seating 72 passengers. The airline is expecting to take delivery of three more ATRs by April 2024 and have a fleet of 30-32 ATRs in the next five years connecting 50 cities. Fly91 expects to open a new base in a new city every year from where it will connect up to 10 cities. It got the Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s Air Operator’s Certificate last week and has raised $25 million in equity in its first round of funding.

In the next four months, the carrier expects to start service to Agatti (Lakshadweep) and Jalgaon too. The routes to Agatti, Jalgaon and Sindhudurg from Goa have been awarded under the government’s regional connectivity scheme for which the airline will receive a viability gap funding (or subsidy) in exchange for which it has to offer half of its seating capacity at a discounted fare of ₹2,500 per hour of flight.

Stay up to date: Sign up for my newsletter to never miss latest Aviation and Travel news.

Possible?

Looking at the history of Indian aviation industry, rarely has a regional airline stayed in the market for long. TruJet had the longest run but the pandemic did not do any good to it. Players like Air Costa, TruJet etc have eventually had to succumb to the behemoths of the industry at the time when they operated.

Indian aviation industry is one of the toughest in the world, where margins are very thin and airlines have to keep evolving their style of operating according to market conditions. Many airlines have come and gone, but those who have stood out have never focused on regional operations, but rather on connecting metros with metros and tier 2 and 3 cities.

Generally what happens with regional airlines is that since the yields are very low and the markets they serve are not matured enough for good enough loads, airlines generally struggle to stay afloat. It may not be the case every time but these are the most common reasons I can think of that contributes to airlines shutting down.

Fly91 seems to be a promising airline, to some extent. Manoj Chacko, CEO and founder of Fly91, is an industry veteran, having worked for Kingfisher Airlines in the past. He carries with him a wealth of experience that may result in the success of Fly91. He says that his new airline will focus on connecting small towns, rather than competing with larger airlines. Again, it’s good that the main focus is on enhancing regional connectivity but the airline, in my opinion, will have to choose the markets it wants to serve very carefully.

With significant funds in hand, it seems like Fly91 is all clear for takeoff and here’s wishing the new entrant blue skies and tail winds!

Featured image by Fly91

Both the other images by Fly91

What do you think of Fly91’s plans? Let me know in the comments section below.

Follow IH Aviation and Travel on Social Media on Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.