NEW AIRLINE - FLY91

Fly91 (Goa Dabolim) will become the first airline to be headquartered at the greenfield Goa Mopa Airport when it starts operations, tentatively scheduled for later this year, after it secures its air operator's certificate (AOC).

As previously reported, Fly91 aims to link Goa with second and third-tier airports around India, tapping into the Indian government's UDAN-RCS subsidised regional flying scheme. Founder and Kingfisher Airlines (Mumbai International) alumni Manoj Chacko said he plans to launch flights with a pair of ATR72-600s, building up to six aircraft within the first 12 months.

Developed by GMR Airports Limited (GAL) under a build-operate-transfer model, the INR30 billion rupee (USD363.5 million) Goa Mopa Airport only opened in December 2022. The airport offers a user-friendly alternative to Goa Dabolim, a single runway joint military/civilian facility where military traffic enjoys priority.

IndiGo Airlines (6E, Delhi International) operated the first scheduled flight at Goa Mopa on January 5, 2023, and has since built a substantial market share at the airport. According to ch-aviation capacities data, IndiGo provides over 66% of the airport's weekly seating capacity and 65% of its weekly flight frequencies. Goa Mopa can handle 4.4 million passengers annually (this will grow to 13.1 million when further stages of the airport are developed). Six months after flights started, IndiGo Airlines, Akasa Air, SpiceJet, Vistara, Oman Air, Aeroflot, and TUI Airways are offering over 71,000 seats a week in and out of the airport on approximately 400 scheduled aircraft movements. However, Fly91 will become the first commercial passenger airline headquartered at Goa Mopa and the first to open a base there.

Fly91 is a joint venture between Chacko and Mumbai-based private equity firm Convergent Finance, which is investing INR2 billion (USD24.2 million). In late April, Fly91's holding company, Just Udo Aviation Pvt Ltd, secured its no-objection certificate from India's Ministry of Civil Aviation. It is now working on gaining its AOC from the Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

Ch Aviation