It was one of the busiest Mondays for the chief executive officer of Air Carnival, Manish Kumar Singh. But more hectic days are ahead with the Coimbatore-based airlines all set to launch its flight services shortly. In a chat with TOI's Pratiksha Ramkumar, just after the opening of Air Carnival's swanky new corporate office, Singh talks about the ambitious venture, challenges facing the airline industry and how they plan to make a mark.
Q: Besides the fact that the promoters are from the city, what are the advantages of having your base in Coimbatore, still considered a tier II city?
A: There are multiple reasons for choosing Coimbatore for our base. Obviously, the first reason is the CMC group - which is promoting the airline, is based in Coimbatore. So we have all our infrastructure and manpower support here. We are also at liberty to expand our fleet and set up our own exclusive hangars in the airport, because no other airline uses the hangars here. For example, in Chennai, both the hangars are used by Air India and Spicejet, so we will have to sublease it from them. We can also set our own maintenance facilities. We also have a better emotional connect with Coimbatore, so we enjoy better local support.
Q: What are the routes you plan to operate on and why?
A: We plan to fly to Chennai, from to Madurai and return to Chennai, and then to Bengaluru and return to Chennai and finally fly back to Coimbatore at night. We always have more demand than supply for the Coimbatore-Chennai route. Another problem is with the first flight departing only at 8am and the last return flight being as early as 5.30pm, it becomes uncomfortable for many businessmen. So, we plan to run our first flight at around 7am and the return flight at sometime between 9pm and 10pm. We also realized that Chennai to Madurai required more connectivity for businessmen, politicians and pilgrims. We also plan to experiment with more routes after a few months.
Q: Any particular reason why you have decided to launch your airline at this particular time?
A: We started in mid-2014, but it was difficult to get an aircraft on lease till 2015 on your own terms. It was only in 2015 that the industry limped back to normalcy, after the Kingfisher crisis. Also, the fuel price, at 34 per litre, is at its lowest in many years. It has been at this price for around three months now. Earlier the prices went up to 75 per litre. The state government should also look to bring down their sales tax to encourage startups, like Andhra Pradesh or Karnataka is doing.
Q: As you said, with a majority of the airlines embroiled in a price war, how do you plan to price your tickets to remain competitive?
A: We may not be able to compete with players pricing their tickets very low, but we will be offering many exclusive services that low cost airlines do not offer. We will be the first domestic airline to offer in-flight entertainment, a proper meal and better seating quality.
Q: What are the new aviation industry policies which are favourable to you?
A: We found the ministry and director general of civil aviation very helpful when we began applying for clearances and licenses. They keep coming up with new policies to make entry of new local airlines easier, promote low cost carriers in small cities and maintenance repair organisations (MRO). They give MROs good tax rebates.
Q: How is the aviation industry in the country doing according to you?
A: The aviation industry is definitely doing well. However, it has not expanded enough because of some old policies, like taxation. However, now they are coming with ways to increase air traffic to tier II cities. However, they do have to monitor ticket pricing by airlines, like we have fair pricing systems for so many other commodities. Because, an impractical price war forcing us to sell tickets at prices where we don't even break even, startups entering the industry will find it difficult.
Q: Besides the fact that the promoters are from the city, what are the advantages of having your base in Coimbatore, still considered a tier II city?
A: There are multiple reasons for choosing Coimbatore for our base. Obviously, the first reason is the CMC group - which is promoting the airline, is based in Coimbatore. So we have all our infrastructure and manpower support here. We are also at liberty to expand our fleet and set up our own exclusive hangars in the airport, because no other airline uses the hangars here. For example, in Chennai, both the hangars are used by Air India and Spicejet, so we will have to sublease it from them. We can also set our own maintenance facilities. We also have a better emotional connect with Coimbatore, so we enjoy better local support.
Q: What are the routes you plan to operate on and why?
A: We plan to fly to Chennai, from to Madurai and return to Chennai, and then to Bengaluru and return to Chennai and finally fly back to Coimbatore at night. We always have more demand than supply for the Coimbatore-Chennai route. Another problem is with the first flight departing only at 8am and the last return flight being as early as 5.30pm, it becomes uncomfortable for many businessmen. So, we plan to run our first flight at around 7am and the return flight at sometime between 9pm and 10pm. We also realized that Chennai to Madurai required more connectivity for businessmen, politicians and pilgrims. We also plan to experiment with more routes after a few months.
Q: Any particular reason why you have decided to launch your airline at this particular time?
A: We started in mid-2014, but it was difficult to get an aircraft on lease till 2015 on your own terms. It was only in 2015 that the industry limped back to normalcy, after the Kingfisher crisis. Also, the fuel price, at 34 per litre, is at its lowest in many years. It has been at this price for around three months now. Earlier the prices went up to 75 per litre. The state government should also look to bring down their sales tax to encourage startups, like Andhra Pradesh or Karnataka is doing.
Q: As you said, with a majority of the airlines embroiled in a price war, how do you plan to price your tickets to remain competitive?
A: We may not be able to compete with players pricing their tickets very low, but we will be offering many exclusive services that low cost airlines do not offer. We will be the first domestic airline to offer in-flight entertainment, a proper meal and better seating quality.
Q: What are the new aviation industry policies which are favourable to you?
A: We found the ministry and director general of civil aviation very helpful when we began applying for clearances and licenses. They keep coming up with new policies to make entry of new local airlines easier, promote low cost carriers in small cities and maintenance repair organisations (MRO). They give MROs good tax rebates.
Q: How is the aviation industry in the country doing according to you?
A: The aviation industry is definitely doing well. However, it has not expanded enough because of some old policies, like taxation. However, now they are coming with ways to increase air traffic to tier II cities. However, they do have to monitor ticket pricing by airlines, like we have fair pricing systems for so many other commodities. Because, an impractical price war forcing us to sell tickets at prices where we don't even break even, startups entering the industry will find it difficult.