AIR CARNIVAL: The Airline with a difference, an answer to discounted air fares.
India has always been the
market for growers in every industry. The growing economy lays a platform to
investors both Indian and international.
Being a developing nation India is always open to international
options when the call for experiment comes. With majority of its population in
the “human capital” tag, venturing out options is an old
saying.
India has been through tough times since time immemorial but
it has always made a mark in the world scenario and that is one of the reasons
for its fastest growing resources.
The Indian aviation market has grown since ages; while some have
made it big in the market others faded who could not withstand the test of
time.
At a time when aviation players are going through turbulent times,
Coimbatore-based CMC
(Coimbatore Marine College) group
is venturing into the aviation
industry by launching a low-cost carrier (LCC) under the brand Air Carnival. The
airline plans to focus on short haul services with its ATR72-500 aircraft. The
70-seater aircraft are more economical for short haul services and they are
proven one in India.
The company serves with the tag time “Safety first! On time every
time!”
Air Carnival is an Indian regional airline based at Coimbatore
International Airport with a hub at Chennai
International Airport. The airline
was founded in 2013 as a charter
airline but has since transitioned to scheduled operations within South India, which were launched in
July 2016
In 2013, S. I. Nathan, founder and director of Coimbatore Marine
College (CMC) Group, founded Air Carnival Charter Services as a charter airline based in Delhi. CMC Group later shifted the focus
of Air Carnival to short-haul routes within South India. Coimbatore was selected as a base because it is
the headquarters of CMC Group, the airport has many available facilities and
Coimbatore is a growing city located closes the Tier
1 cities Bangalore and Chennai. The airline focuses on unserved and
poorly served markets.
Manish Kumar Singh serves as CEO and S. I. Nathan, who
is also the director of CMC Group, is the founder and chairman.
Coimbatore-based Air Carnival has become the fourth regional
airline of the country and will fly daily to and from three Tamil Nadu airports at Coimbatore, Chennai and Madurai.
Air Carnival will become the first regional airline offering fares
inclusive of in-flight entertainment and food. The airline will compete with
other southern region players such as TruJet and Air Pegasus which have three
aircraft each and Air Costa with four planes. To start with, the airline will
deploy one 72-seater aircraft (ATR 72-500) with four flights daily on the
Coimbatore-Chennai-Madurai sector. After inducting two more 72-seater planes
the airline will spread its wings to Tirupati,
Hubli, Vishakhapatnam, Rajahmundry and Mangalore.
Air Carnival, which got its air permit on July 4, has decided to
take on their competitors head on by introducing a promotional base fare of Re
1 on the first day of operations and an all-inclusive fare of Rs 999 for the
first three months. The airline has also confirmed that it plans to model
itself along the low-cost airlines in the country. Even after the initial three
months, their tickets will be priced at a competitive rate. The airline, which
currently has only one leased aircraft, plans to introduce flights from Chennai
to Bangalore. The airline then plans to add flights to Thiruvananthapuram,
Mangalore, Hubli and Mysore from both Chennai and Coimbatore, depending on
market surveys.
The entry of Air Carnival is likely to heat up the competition. At
present there are three operators flying seven flights a day from Coimbatore to
Chennai. The 70-seater flight will fly to Chennai, Madurai and Bangalore on a
daily basis.
Once the flight lands in Chennai from
Coimbatore, it will make a round-trip to Madurai and Bangalore. The airline
also plans to acquire its second and third aircraft after three to six months,
based on operations and revenue coming in.
D Nandhakumar from the Indian Chamber
of Commerce and Industry stated that “Industrialists welcome the additional
flight services, they should consider shuttle flights offering fixed price open
tickets even if slightly more expensive, for frequent travelers,"
The airline plans to price its tickets parallel to low-cost
airlines, but plans to experiment with the in-flight facilities like ways to
serve hot fresh on board instead of the currently packaged food served on short
flight segments and also mulling ways to make the food served on-board a part
of the ticket package or free of cost.
Domestic operation at the fast-growing Tiruchi International
Airport is expected to improve with Air Carnival expressing its interest to
launch a service in the Chennai-Tiruchi– Chennai sector. The airline aims to
cover all the airports in Tamil Nadu in the next 24 to 36 months.
Welcoming the additional flights from the Air Carnival, frequent
travelers from Madurai to Chennai and Coimbatore said that it reflected that
there was potential in this sector. On an average, the flight was 80 per cent
occupied daily.
Of all the new airlines, Vistara is the only one not based in the
south. AirAsia India, Pegasus, Fly Easy, Air Carnival, TurboMegha's TruJet, and
Air Costa are all based in the south. This is because of the promise the region
holds.
Among the five regions -- North, West, East, North East and South
-- the southern region is the most lucrative market considering it has three
metros, which is half the total number of metros in the country.
According to analysts Hyderabad and Bangalore are Greenfield and
better planned airports, and this allows them to better support new airlines
through improved infrastructure and sops. South has lucrative cities including
Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Cochin and others. No other region is this
attractive.
Though being a low fare airline Air Carnival takes into
consideration passengers’ comfort. The airlines is planning to incorporate
various facilities, the initiative starts with providing hot served food with
will be included in the ticket free of cost.
This airlines’ major concern is to capture the market initially by
launching itself as a regional airlines then spreading its wings to other
sectors. This airline will prove to be a boon for frequent flyers especially
from small cities.
Officials said tickets have already opened on its website and they
have tied up with different travel agents and leading travel portals for
availability of tickets.
There is always a market for each and every thing in life, as Air
Carnival is launched as a low budget airline keeping in consideration the common
man’s need as single frequent flyers there are advantages as well in travelling
in a group.
It may be a dream for some to board a flight rather it may be
unapproachable for the pocket-friendly people but thanks to humble initiative
like Air Carnival who keeps in mind those pocket-friendly segments of
population that will be a part of their profit making strategy in the near
future.
Though Air Carnival have opened its website for tickets and have
tied up with different agents for tickets which again may be confined to single
frequent flyers for groups there is always a different option.
FareHawker for discounted fares.
FareHawker.com specializes in providing discounted fares for group
bookings. The advantage of travelling in a group basically is security and to
be in the company of near and dear ones.
FareHawker also caters to domestic and international
group bookings, we provide travel jockeys as well for travel trips and cater
for MICE as well.
FareHawker : Best for Group Bookings
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changes/ Rebooking/ Cancellation for group is now easier.
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reservation up to 50 weeks in advance with just a small deposit.
- Group flight tickets, hotel reservations, car rental and other arrangements.
Group Booking for Air Carnival through FareHawker
When we talk of travelling in a group there’s nothing else that
comes to mind other than FAREHAWKER. Farehawker.com has been in the market for group
bookings since a decade and is the only one in the market.
FareHawker has opened its site for Air Carnival group bookings.
The advantage with group bookings is that tickets are always available at a
discounted rate and reasonable fares and one is always in the company of their friends and
family.
It is always a privilege to go for FareHawker.com when group bookings come into the picture. FareHawker does not only provide
cheapest group fares bur also assures safety and pocket friendly fares.
FareHawker has always been a part of each and every group both for
domestic as well as international flights. Now after the launch of Air
Carnival’s flight group bookings for the same will be available on
FareHawker.com’s official website, that too with discounted rates for the
regional market that Air Carnival is covering.
FareHawker and Air Carnival.
FareHawker congratulates Air Carnival in its inaugural flight and
wishes all its team members regards.
LET’S MAKE FLYING PLEASURABLE AND MEMORABLE !!!
Samhita Das
Samhita Das