Sapphire Air Plans Discount Carrier to Fly Between U.S., India
2006-09-29 05:51 (New York)
By Anand Krishnamoorthy
Sept. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Sapphire Airways Inc. said it's
planning to start a low-fare airline that will offer flights
between India and the U.S., becoming the first U.S.-based low-
fare carrier to fly to the world's second-most populous nation.
Sapphire Airways, a Delaware, U.S.-based company, is
raising $100 million to set up the discount carrier, said Rahul
S. Puranik, chairman of the company in an interview in Mumbai
today. The company will soon apply to the U.S. Department of
Transport and the Federal Aviation Authority for license to
start the carrier by October 2007, he said.
India and the U.S. last year signed an air services
agreement to permit more flights between the two countries,
allowing Continental Airlines Inc. and AMR Corp.'s American
Airlines Inc. to start non-stop flights between the two nations.
About 2 million people are estimated to travel between the U.S.
and India every year.
``The growth of the India-U.S. travel market is what
attracts us,'' Puranik, a former pilot, said. ``With deepening
ties between the two countries and the economic growth in India,
travel will only grow.''
Sapphire Airways wants to fly to Indian cities from the
U.S.'s East Coast with a fuel stop in Europe, Puranik said. The
company is in talks with individual investors and has obtained
commitments for about $45 million of the $100 million financing
it requires, he said.
Traffic between the two countries has been rising on
India's increasing affluence and more software professionals
traveling the route.
The number of passengers on U.S. and Indian carriers
traveling between the two countries rose 86 percent in 2004 from
2000, according to the U.S. Transportation Department last year.
The Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, an industry
consultant, is helping Sapphire raise funds and draw up a route
network, Puranik said.
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