New Delhi, Dec 19: Vijayawada-based regional carrier Air Costa has received a clearance from the civil aviation ministry for a pan-India flying permit and now plans to go national from the summers next year.
The No Objection certificate (NOC) will enable it to secure a national flying licence from aviation regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the carrier said.
As of now, the airline operates on regional routes, mainly destinations across south India.
“Pan-India operations shall commence from the summer schedule of 2016,” Air Costa deputy chief executive officer Vivek Choudhary was quoted as saying in a release.
He said the airliner will be adding one 110-seater Embraer E-190 plane to its fleet this month, adding, it will be followed by one more such aircraft in February next year.
The induction of these two planes would take total fleet size to five aircraft, Choudhary said.
The airline had early last year placed a firm order for 50 jets with Embraer, the world’s largest maker of regional aircraft, in a deal valued at USD 2.94 billion under a 20-year fleet-management plan.
Currently Air Costa offers 32 flights per day to nine destinations including Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru, Coimbatore and Ahmedabad with a fleet of four Embraer (two E-170 and two) E-190) planes.
Air Costa’s next move is to connect major destinations like Delhi, Bhubaneswar, Varanasi and Pune, he said.
