Akshay Kumar – Mumbai
Turbo Aviation is all set to enter the commercial aviation segment with its brand ‘Trujet’, a regional airline based in Hyderabad. The company will launch its commercial operations in June 2015. The airline, which is backed by Telegu superstar Ram Charan, will receive its first set of three ATR 72-500 aircraft in the first week of May.
Speaking exclusively to Express TravelWorld, Vankayalapati Umesh, managing director, Turbo Aviation said, “We will launch our commercial operations from Hyderabad in the third or fourth week of June. The bookings will be opened soon after we receive the DGCA permissions. In the first phase we will fly to eight destinations which is a mix of Tier I and Tier II cities.”
In its initial phase, the airline plans to fly from Hyderabad to Tirupati and Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh; Aurangabad and Pune in Maharashtra; Bengaluru, Hubli and Mangalore in Karnataka and Goa. Umesh added, “As of now we are awaiting permissions from the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Once we acquire the required permissions, we will add destinations like Mumbai and Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh which currently has no air connectivity.” When asked about the investments, the managing director refrained from divulging figures.
Turbo Aviation was established in November 2003 and commenced aviation activities with the manufacture of ground support equipment for airlines and started its initial business with Air Deccan, Bengaluru. In April 2007 the company started providing ground handling services to various domestic airlines such as Air Deccan, Air Sahara, Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, GoAir, First Flight, Blue Dart, Paramount Airways, SpiceJet and HAL/ Air India.