The Indian government has approved two new start-up passenger and cargo airlines – Avicore Aviation and ZAV Airways – while a United Arab Emirates company is seeking to launch a third.
Avicore will be based out of Nagpur and use B737s with a capacity of about 15-17 tonnes of freight. Kolkata-based ZAV is to buy two Bombardier-made CRJ-900s and two ATR 72-500s as well as six helicopters for heli-taxi services.
Meanwhile, UAE-based Indian cargo rail operator ETA-Ascon is negotiating with jet manufacturers for equipment to start a new Indian airline.
¡°We have started talking to Embraer, Bombardier and ATR to acquire 70-90 seater regional jets for the new airline in India,¡± managing director of Emirates Trading Agency-Associated Construction (ETA-Ascon) group Syed M Salahuddin, was quoted as saying in Gulf News.
The company recently launched a cargo rail service to move containers between Delhi and Bombay.