After selling Air Deccan, India ’s first low-cost airline, to Kingfisher Airlines in 2007, Capt Gopinath is set to get his pan-India wings again. All that’s needed now is a green signal from civil aviation regulator DGCA.
In Bangalore Captain G R Gopinath, who ushered in the era of no-frills low-cost airlines in India , is getting ready to fly again with a new domestic licence. Speaking to Mirror, he said the empowered committee under the civil aviation ministry had cleared his application to run a domestic airline.
However, this does not mean his second airline can take off immediately. The final nod is yet to come from the Director-General of Civil Aviation(DGCA), the regulator of the Indian aviation industry. “I reapplied for a national airline licence when the government changed the rules allowing foreign airlines to invest up to 49 per cent (in domestic carriers). Both have been cleared,” he said.
While he can technically start running the airline after DGCA’s approval, he will still need the Foreign Investment Promotion Board’s approval to bring in a foreign equity partner to part-fund his venture. After the sale of his first aviation venture Air Deccan to Kingisher Airlines owner Vijay Mallya in 2008, Gopinath was bound by a cooling-off period of five years before he could return to the business. This period comes to a close this April.
However, two days ago, civil aviation minister Ajit Singh told a financial daily that he is not opposed to giving any fresh licence to anyone who comes with a joint venture partner. “I never said anything about JVs. Nobody else has applied so far except Gopinath, so there was nothing we could do, he already has a regional licence. Let him run that first and then we would consider upgrading it.”
Apart from finding a foreign equity partner, Gopinath’s biggest challenge will be in running his new airline profitably at a time when most domestic carriers are finding the going tough. Despite being the first lowcost domestic carrier, Air Deccan did not see profits until the end of 2006. Business conditions have only gotten worse since then, with the price of aviation fuel going through the roof.
The regional licence the minister referred to is Deccan Charters, which focuses on short-haul flights using choppers and small aircraft that can be hired by celebrities, politicians and industrialists. Gopinath also has an air logistics business under the Deccan 360 banner.
Flying high
1997: Starts a chartered chopper service, Deccan Charters
2003: Starts Air Deccan, India’s first low-cost airline
2007: Sells Air Deccan to Kingfisher
2009: Starts Deccan 360, also known as Deccan Cargo & Express Logistics
2013: Gets civil aviation ministry approval to re-enter domestic airspace
source: http://www.mumbaimirror.com / Home> News> Nation> Story / by Kalyan Subramani / Thursday, February 28th, 2013