What India’s Newest Regional Airline Says About Aviation

Air Kerala is set to join a wave of airlines coming up in India. The carrier's niche positioning: Offering low-cost direct connectivity to Kerala expats based in the Middle East.

Upstart regional airline Air Kerala is India's latest ultra-low-cost carrier and hopes to begin flying by the end of June after receiving its IATA flight code, "KD."

While it will initially operate domestically, the plan is to expand internationally, especially to the Middle East to serve the UAE and Gulf-based non-resident Keralites, a significant target audience for Air Kerala.

While major airlines like Air India and IndiGo are expanding their fleet for international expansion, smaller Indian airlines are also adding more planes to respond to the growing demand from regional markets. Akasa Air, which commenced operations less than three years ago, this week announced the arrival of its 28th aircraft.

Last month, regional airline Star Air’s fleet expanded to 10 aircraft. The airline also has plans to undertake rapid expansion by adding 15 new sectors to its schedule.

Goa-based regional airline Fly91 is also expanding its fleet and last month, purchased two ATR 72-600 aircraft shortly after completing a year of operations. It is soon expecting another plane to join the fleet, taking it to four jets. Fly91 plans to induct 30 aircraft manufactured by European manufacturer ATR over the next five years.

Last year, another Kerala-based airline Alhind Air received the initial