Low-cost airline Air Kerala secures NOC from the civil aviation ministry, regional launch in 2025

Proposals for the new Air Kerala are being worked to perfection, with the company now eyeing the commencement of its domestic operations in first quarter of next year and going for international operations by 2026 at the earliest, has said the UAE-based businessman planning the company.

Zettfly Aviation Company through which operating the airline has been issued the no objection permit (NOC) by India’s Civil Aviation Ministry following the approval of the airline’s business model, said Afi Ahmed, the firm’s chairman.

Of the well-established steps, the first is the NOC, which he said is one of the largest tasks, and the task is now fulfilled.

The next issues will be various technicalities, flights, and engineering companies’ contracts, and all of that is expected to be completed within a time frame of approximately six to eight months.

As an ‘ultra-low-cost airline’, the business wants Air Kerala to begin with three ATR 72-600s and develop to twenty for overseas markets.

This leaves the company between a rock and a hard place between leasing the aircraft and or purchasing the planes.

It is seen that the company will need about 60 to 100 crore INR ($7. 1 million to $11. 9 million) to start off with; however, this may increase to 250 crore INR to 300 crore INR when the company expands its network to include foreign cities.

Air Kerala proposal was given by the government of Kerala and  incorporated in the year 2006 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Cochin International Airport Limited.

Though it was launched with a great deal of accolades and considered to be one of the most popular and successful schemes to help Keralites settle abroad the project was very often put on the backburner by successive ministries.

Smart Travels founder of Dubai travel agency, Ahmed, in the twelfth month of the past year, purchased the domain airkerala.com, for Dh1 million ($270,000, reviving the shelved plans.

To start with, the main targeted area of Air Kerala would be to cover the cities within Kerala and initiating flight services to some of the tier two and tier three cities in India which are not well served.

Speaking to reporters, Mr. Ahmed said that the airline’s greatest brand promise will be the ultra-low-cost model.

Other selling points will be “the timing” since he said, “We shall ensure that we shall be on time.”

The company’s door is open for the public-private partnership with the Kerala state government if they are interested in partnership, the businessman said. It is also possible to negotiate cooperation with expatriates, as well as external financing.

“Because now if there is somebody who wants to join with us because we are expanding,  then I can [achieve] the plan a little bit faster,” he said.

Concerning the issue of internationalization, the firm believes that the large number of Indians living in other countries particularly the expatriate Keralites would help in business expansion. A record revealed in the census data exhibited that residents emerging from the Indian state have crossed 2. 2 million, the Kerala Migration Survey 2023 which was released last month.

The population of Malayalis settled internationally has been defined to be approximately five million in number as posited in the study report.

The gulf remains the most favorite, with 80 percent. Five percent identified the region and out of them all, the UAE stands out as the most chosen country by the respondents.

Mr. Ahmed said that Air Kerala is not so interested in confining itself to giving service only in a particular city in the UAE. However, the final call on the matter will be taken much later when the firm arrives at the specific terms of the international expansion strategy. However, in the start-up period of the operations, the company estimates a negative gross based on the following profit.

“Third and fourth year [is when] we are going to start to get profits,” he said.