NEW DELHI: The sudden clearance to operate in Indian skies given to two airlines that had been awaiting the nod for nearly a year appears to be a strong message from the Centre in light of the disruption caused by India’s largest domestic carrier IndiGo from December 1 to 9.

The two new airlines are Kozhikode-based Alhind and Hyderabad-headquartered FlyExpress, while Shank Air, based in Uttar Pradesh, was also given the nod last year and plans to begin operations in 2026.

Aviation professionals and experts, however, unanimously feel there is no way the newbies can take on dominant players like IndiGo or the two airlines from the stable of the Air India Group – Air India and Air India Express.

Captain C S Randhawa, president of the Federation of Indian Pilots, is quite critical of the decision. Stating that the newbies can never break the duopoly exercised by the existing airlines, he added, “All these three airlines have neither enough funding nor expertise. The best of airlines have not survived. No regional airlines have survived in this country. These airlines are not a threat to any operating airlines in the country as they cannot survive on non-UDAN routes.”

They face the challenges of finances, aircraft leasing, pilot availability, sustainability, competitive fares and reliability, he stated.

“The government needs to get fuel under GST and give subsidies to encourage big corporate houses to enter aviation with a big bang to break the monopoly or duopoly. Regional airlines only increase regional connectivity. There is an urgent need for the government to have a relook at the aviation policies of the country,” Captain Randhawa explained.

He also claimed that Alhind had shut its Kochi office and terminated all employees. Shank Air was still struggling to obtain certification for Air Operator Certification and get aircraft on lease, he added.

Training the specific pilots to operate the ATR aircraft or smaller aircraft would take more than eight months. "The average life of a regional airline is approximately 3-7 years. Therefore, such airlines starting up with 1 or 2 aircraft fail in prolonged operations and shut shop," he added.

Aviation expert Captain Mohan Ranganathan gave zero chances of the new airlines offering any competition. "Where are the captains? The title of a 1971 Robert Stirling novel 'She’ll Never Get Off the Ground' is apt to describe their situation," he said.

A representative of the other leading pilot association, Airline Pilot Association of India, told TNIE, “Where are the big aircraft for these airlines to start their operations? IndiGo presently has 434 aircraft and it took them two decades to reach this position. The new airlines need to lease A320 aircraft only from them. Orders placed at Boeing by Air India for the 737s are getting delayed. It will take the new airlines at least two decades to reach the position of these airlines.” Spicejet and Akasa Air have been around for some time but they have between 20 and 30 aircraft each and cannot match up to the airlines yet, he added.

Captain G R Gopinath, who pioneered the low-cost airline concept in the country through his Air Deccan, said, “Permitting new airlines to operate is good for the country as the industry will become more vibrant. The public stand to benefit as the prices will be kept under check. Airlines will become more effective and service-minded. It is good that the government is doing it and it will benefit all.”

In an earlier interaction with TNIE in Kerala, Alhind CEO Reena Abdul Rahiman said the Thiruvananthapuram-Kochi-Kozhikode sector was their priority. To facilitate this, the company had started a base in Kochi airport as early as August 2024. Alhind Air will begin its operations with two ATR 72-600 aircraft, with plans to scale up to seven within the first year.

“Alhind Air is also mulling operating in certain routes under the UDAN scheme like Kochi-Mysuru,” the airline’s operations manager T C Vivek had informed TNIE.

Alhind Group, with a turnover of over Rs 20,000 crore and more than 130 offices in India and overseas, is headquartered in Kozhikode and has a regional office in Delhi.

This reporter repeatedly tried reaching the offices of Alhind and Shank Air but got no response.

The story is reported by S Lalitha of The New Indian Express