Air Costa halts flight operations

Regional airline Air Costa halted its flight operations on Thursday, following financial issues with its leasing companies.

Raising questions over the financial viability of regional airlines in India, the operational halt comes days after Bengaluru-based Air Pegasus grounded its operations.

“We had some financial issues with the leasing company and we are in the process of re-negotiation. We are very much in business and have only temporarily suspended operations for today. We will resume our flights tomorrow,” said Kavi Chaurasia, vice president, Marketing and Communications at Air Costa told The Hindu. He added that payment dues to leasing companies are “one of the core reasons” for halting operations.

Air Costa, which will complete three years in October, operates three Embraer 190 aircraft and flies to nine destinations — Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Coimbatore, Tirupati and Vijayawada. The Vijayawada-based company is one of the largest regional airlines operating 24 daily flights.

Mr. Chaurasia said the airline has plans to induct more aircraft and is in the process of getting a pan-India license to fly. “Considering our future plans, some sort of negotiation is going on,” he said.

SOURCE: PTI