On a Friday evening, Sanjay Surana, a builder from Surat, was excited to travel to Bhavnagar for a darshan of his spiritual guru. As Surana queued up with eight of his co-passengers for security check, he was thankful that Ventura AirConnect, which operates a fleet of 9-seater Cessna, had reduced the travel time between the two cities from 8-10 hours to just 20 minutes.
"Visiting Bhavnagar for a day's work would never have been possible through road,” says Surana, a regular flier of the airline owned by Diamond Aeronautics Pvt Ltd. Trains are the least preferred as they take the longest.
Set up by four diamond merchants from Surat, the airline took off in December 2014. They wanted to connect Saurashtra with Surat, the hub of the diamond polishing industry. Over 80 per cent of the industry’s workforce is from the villages of Saurashtra, mainly Bhavnagar and Amreli. After Surat, it is rural Saurashtra that shines the most in the diamond polishing trade.
It is the economic mainstay of the region, employing about half a million. The rough diamonds travel from Belgium to Surat after a series of checks and clearances. After the sorting of rough diamonds, the ‘rural grade’ – those easier to polish and monitor -- are sent to rural Saurashtra, mostly through an
Surat had a gripe. The city, with a population of close to 50 lakh, has the world's biggest diamond polishing and manufacturing industry worth about ₹90,000 crore annually. But it had no air connectivity to speak of. The city, which witnessed one of the fastest urban migrations in India since 1991, was forced to rely on rail and road. Around 400 taxis travelled to Mumbai daily, carrying those travelling abroad. Over the years, several attempts were made to provide air connectivity to Surat, but few were successful. This led to the evolution of Diamond Aeronautics.
The fourGovindbhai Dholakiya, a leading diamond merchant and owner of Shree Ram Krishna Exports, first visualised the idea of having a plane service. “It was his idea to have an airline for the citizens of Surat. He was fond of planes and took flying classes from a private school in Surat,” recalls Ishwar Dholakiya, Managing Director of Diamond Aeronautics and nephew of Govindbhai. In 2011, Govindbhai discussed the idea with his friends. But soon several private airlines launched flights from Surat and the idea was dropped.
Private airlines, including Kingfisher Airlines, SpiceJet and Air India started services to destinations such as Delhi and Mumbai. But within a couple of years most of them shut shop. SpiceJet suspended its services to Surat, citing security issues after an aircraft hit a buffalo on the runway in November 2014. This made Air India the lone airline to operate from Surat with only a morning flight to Delhi. “Govindbhai felt it was the right time to provide Surat citizens air connectivity with Bhavnagar and eventually spread it to other locations. He got the support of three other leading businessmen from Surat and acquired Ventura AirConnect from a Bhopal-based owner,” says Ishwar Dholakiya.
The three businessmen were Savjibhai Dholakiya of Hare Krishna Exports, Laljibhai Patel of Dharmanand Diamonds and Lavjibhai Daliya of Avadh Group. Savjibhai had hogged headlines last year when he gifted 491 cars, 200 flats and jewellery to his employees as Diwali bonus. Another partner, Patel shot to fame after he doled out ₹4.31 crore to buy the pinstriped suit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “ It was decided that even if the airline makes loss, it has to run as a CSR mission for the people of Surat,” says Ishwar Dholakiya.
The take-offDiamond Aeronautics bought Bhopal-based Ventura AirConnect for about ₹20 crore in 2014. The airline operated two Cessna Grand Caravan 208Bs, which has room for nine passengers and two pilots. The first flight between Surat and Bhavnagar took off on December 13, 2014 with a fare of ₹3,000 per ticket. A few days later, a Surat-Rajkot flight was introduced. The fare for Bhavnagar was cut to ₹2,000 from June 15. “We were prepared to face losses, but to our surprise, the service was appreciated by people and we turned profitable by March 2015,” says Captain Kartikey Garasia, Chief Executive Officer, Diamond Aeronautics. The airline now makes three round trips between Surat and Bhavnagar and one trip to Rajkot daily.
Currently, the airline is using one aircraft for six hours of flying a day. “We will soon add Ahmedabad. Later we plan to have flights to Bhuj, Amreli and Diu. Soon, we will reach 18 hours of flying a day," says Captain Garasia. In its 20-minute flight to Bhavnagar and 45-minute flight to Rajkot, Ventura AirConnect provides a water bottle, dry fruits and chocolates free to its passengers. Till June, the airline has flown a total 10,700 passengers with average occupancy of 80 per cent.
At Diamond Aeronautics, pilots multi-task and do back-office work, among other things. In Captain Garasia’s 37-member-team, 17 are pilots fresh from their Commercial Pilot License (CPL) training. The airline doesn't have air-hostesses or stewards. The pilots serve confectionery and water to the guests onboard before take-off. Garasia also curbed unnecessary expenditure on lavish hotel stays of pilots and luxury cab pick-up and drops.
For the airline, employee salaries aren’t among the biggest components of the operations cost. “Our main cost is fuel and not the employee cost. In all, our operations cost is about ₹42,000 per hour for one aircraft with six-hour flight,” said Garasia. A quick calculation shows that even at the reduced fare of ₹2,000 per person for Bhavnagar, the airline would still make profits when occupied fully. And unlike other airlines, Diamond Aeronautics operates out of a modest one-room headquarters close to the airport.
On the radarDiamond Aeronautics has initiated talks with the state government for code-sharing with Maritime Energy Heli Air Services Pvt. Ltd, which has the permission for a pan-Gujarat air service. Commenting on the future prospects of intra-state aviation industry, state finance minister Saurabh Patel, who also holds the portfolio of civil aviation, said: “The market in this sector can't be developed from the very first day. There is a need and potential to connect important locations of Gujarat with air service.” As a part of its expansion to add more flights and provide additional services, Diamond Aeronautics has bought two more aircraft. The delivery of the two aircraft is expected soon. “We have established our credibility. Most importantly, this is not our core business. Each of our partners is doing well in his respective business. So, we can focus on making air travel affordable for the travellers. We are expanding our wings to across Gujarat. But we also wish to become a national airline in future,” says Ishwar Dholakiya.