Zoom Air, India's latest full-service carrier, started commercial services on Wednesday (Feb 15) with its maiden flight from Delhi to Kolkata (Delhi-Kolkata-Durgapur-Delhi sector). Its second service will connect Delhi-Amritsar and Delhi-Chandigarh routes.
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Over a period of time, Zoom Air claims it will run daily services to Aizawl, Aurangabad, Chandigarh, Dharamshala, Dimapur, Durgapur, Hyderabad, Jorhat, Kolkata, Mumbai and Shillong with a fleet of five CRJ-200 LR aircraft, according to an update on its website.
A Bombardier CRJ200LR ( long range version ) has a seating-capacity of 50 passengers.
Promoted by Zexus Air Services Pvt. Ltd., Zoom Air got the licence (Schedule Operating Permit) on February 3 and intends to fly where the existing players do not have services.
"Zoom Air shall fill the gap of sectors that are less catered to, by other scheduled airlines. We bring a new perspective of flying and are termed a premium commuter airline, with on-board Zoom Eat – a styled snacks and beverages service; professional crew – a new initiative to have 1:1 lady pilots on board – operating from Premium T3 in New Delhi and T2 in Mumbai," Koustav M Dhar, CEO and Director of Zoom Air, was quoted as saying by Business Line.
India's civil aviation space comprises players that include IndiGo (the largest in terms of passengers carried in the domestic market), Jet Airways, SpiceJet, Air India, AirAsia India, Vistara and Go Air.
These carriers flew 9.5 million passengers in December 2016 and almost 100 million passengers in calendar year 2016, according to an update released by the regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said last month.
Low-cost carrier IndiGo (owned by Interglobe Aviation) witnessed its market share fall to 40.3 per cent in December from 42.1 per cent in November 2016. SpiceJet registered a minor decrease to 12.7 per cent last month while state-owned carrier Air India saw its share improve to 14 per cent from 12.9 per cent in November 2016.
Full-service carrier Jet Airways's market share climbed to 15.3 per cent from 14.9 per cent in November. On the other hand, budget carrier Go Air's share also rose to 8.2 per cent in December, from eight per cent in the previous month.
