Captain G.R. Gopinath, who pioneered the no-frills air travel in India with his Air Deccan model in 2003, will now provide chartered air links to cities in Gujarat from next week.
His firm, Deccan Charters Ltd (DCL), will launch its non-scheduled chartered flight services in Gujarat under the brand name of Deccan Shuttles on August 20, government sources said here on Monday.
Captain Gopinath has had rounds of meeting with the Chief Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, to set up a hub of air cargo services in Gujarat. The State Government had, sources said, stressed that the important cities and towns of Gujarat should be air- linked first.
The DCL service aims at connecting the key economic zones in Gujarat, that is, Ahmedabad, Surat, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar and Kandla through 12 daily flights. The services are scheduled to commence on August 20, and will initially be operational on the Ahmedabad-Surat-Bhavnagar route. The Ahmedabad-Kandla route will be made operational from August 27 and the Ahmedabad-Jamnagar route will be added subsequently.
Through this initiative, Deccan Charters will identify tourist, industrial and other important clusters that are not serviced by airlines and provide customised charter flight services. It aims at providing improved connectivity to these important industrial hubs in Gujarat while saving time and enhancing business for them.
Deccan Charters will also be a frills-free service. “Our current type of aircraft does not have lavatory facilities on board. All travellers are requested to utilise the facilities available at the airport prior to departure of the flight”, the company said.
Children below two years of age will be allowed to be carried in the parent/adult’s lap. “We do not carry unaccompanied minors (2-12 years) on our service.”
DCL, formerly known as Deccan Aviation Ltd, is a general aviation services company providing a range of solutions from corporate travel to aircraft management, maintenance and technical services. It operates a fleet of 17 aircraft (10 helicopters and 7 fixed wing) from over 15 operational and engineering bases.
In 2003, Deccan Aviation’s Air Deccan became the first airline to service second tier cities in India. It went public in 2006 and merged with Kingfisher Airlines the next year.