THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kairali Airlines Ltd, an aviation company based in Kerala, is all set to launch its operations on domestic routes on November 1, the anniversary of Kerala's statehood.
The company and its logo will be formally launched on June 15 in Kochi.
Sajesh Ratnakar, executive officer of Kairali Airlines, told TOI that the airline is registered with a Chalakudy address and has received a corporate identification number. It currently has eight directors on the board, with majority of the stake being owned by Praveenkumar Kaithakkattt Krishnankutty who has businesses in the UAE and Malaysia.
The executive officer said the company has been striving for three years to understand various clearances needed to get a scheduled operators permit from the DGCA.
The airline will start operations with five ATRs procured on wet lease - a short-term leasing agreement in which lessor provides aircraft, complete crew, and maintenance to an airline.
The initial routes which are under discussion with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) include connecting flights to Kochi, Bangalore, Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, Mangalore and Chennai.
"Around 80% of the approvals from the DGCA are in place, but it is necessary to have everything in order before bringing the aircraft as keeping the planes grounded would be a bad business move," Ratnakar said.
On June 15, the airline plans to release its logo at Le Meridien, Kochi, and its theme song that has been composed by Robin Thirumala and sung by Kerala state award winner Sithara Krishnakumar.
The other directors on board of Kairali Airlines Limited are Jayakrishnan Thankappan Pillai, Varghese Bharanikulam Joseph, Unnikrishnan Naduvile Illam, Reshma Abdul Rasheed, Nangini Thomas Thomas, Benny Puthankudy Poulose and Carlo Cefis from Italy.
Domestic air service Kairali to be launched - The Times of India