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New Indian domestic airline to fly feeder routes

A new Indian domestic airline, Visa Airways, plans to begin providing service from Bombay and Bangalore to 12 smaller cities currently unserved by any other airline, the company's top executive said on Friday.

Executive chairman Vivek Sane said the start-up airline will soon begin flying from Bombay to eight nearby cities - Pune, Jamnagar, Nashik, Kolhapur, Surat, Kandla, Rajkot and Bhavnagar.

Next April it plans to expand by launching services from another hub, Bangalore, to four destinations in southern India -- Coimbatore, Tirupati, Cochin and Madurai, Sane said.

The airline will provide twice-a-day service to all the destinations, which lie within 450 km of the two operational hubs, said Sane, a former pilot with state-owned domestic carrier Indian Airlines.

"Visa Airways will focus on unserved and underserved feeder sectors," Sane said. "Our strategy revolves around making short-haul flights and connecting smaller towns."

Sane said the airline two weeks ago received a government permit to import three Dash 8 Series 100 turboprop aircraft made by Bombadier Aerospace of Canada.

"In another two to three weeks we should be able to announce when we will begin operating," Sane said.

Visa Airways will be only the fourth domestic carrier in India, the world's second most populous nation with over a billion people.

Sane said the airline is leasing the three 37-seater aircraft, and plans to add two more next year when it expands its route network by launching the Bangalore services.

Sane said 40 employees have been on the payroll of Visa Airways the past six months.

"Another 40 have been trained and will join just before the commercial launch," he added.

The employees include six pilots.

Sane said nearly $2.5 million had been raised from a small group of investors -- Indians living in the country and abroad -- to bankroll the start-up.

He said it was planned to increase that amount to $5 million-$5.5 million to finance the second year's expansion plans.

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