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Civil Aviation Minister met teams from new Indian airlines Shankh Air, Al Hind Air, FlyExpress
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Al Hind Air and FlyExpress received DGCA NOCs this week, Shankh Air already got its NOC
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Shankh Air aims to connect major Uttar Pradesh cities with affordable flights
Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu met teams from three new emerging domestic carriers amid concerns over market dominance of budget airline IndiGo after the fiasco this month.
"Over the last one week, pleased to have met teams from new airlines aspiring to take wings in Indian skies—Shankh Air, Al Hind Air and FlyExpress," Kinjarapu said in a social media post.
Alhind Air, part of Kerala’s Alhind Group, and Hyderabad-based international and domestic courier and cargo services company Fly Express have received their No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) this week, the minister said.
Shankh Air, which plans to connect major cities in Uttar Pradesh, like Lucknow, Varanasi, Agra, and Gorakhpur at cheap rates, has already received the NOC from the regulator.
Naidu said the government is encouraging more airlines to enter one of the fastest growing airlines market in the world. He said schemes like UDAN have enabled smaller carriers like Star Air, India One Air, Fly91, among others, to play an important role in the regional connectivity within the country, and there is more scope for further growth.
In the beginning of December, IndiGo’s failure to adapt to new crew-rostering rules triggered widespread flight disruptions, leaving lakhs of travellers stranded at airports across the country.
At the centre of the crisis were regulations requiring pilots and cabin crew to get more rest, including 48-hour weekly breaks instead of 36 hours earlier and stricter limits on night landings.
The airline has been accused of failing to make arrangements to comply with the new rules. As a result, IndiGo was left short of crew, forcing it to ground more than half its fleet.
IndiGo holds over 60% operational market share in the Indian aviation industry. The Competition Commission of India is probing the budget airline under anti-trust rules.
The Tata-run Air India Group has around a 25% domestic market share, followed by Akasa Air and SpiceJet.
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