HYDERABAD: Planning a visit to Godavari Pushkaralu? You can fly
cheap, thanks to regional carrier, TruJet, whose maiden flight will take
off for Rajahmundry on July 12. The Directorate General of Civil
Aviation on Tuesday gave the nod to TruJet, promoted by Umesh
Vankayalapati and actor Ram Charan Teja, to commence operations
coinciding with the auspicious Pushkaralu.
“We will be flying only to Godavari (Rajahmundry) from July 12-25 and
intend to operate 10 flights a day connecting passengers from Hyderabad,
Chennai and Bangalore to Godavari,” Umesh, MD, TruJet told Express.
From July 26, the city-based carrier will fly to tier II cities such as
Aurangabad, Hubli, and Tirupati. TruJet is the third regional carrier in
south India after Air Costa (Vijayawada) and Air Pegasus (Bengaluru).
“We believe in low-fare, high-passenger business model to achieve
growth,” Umesh said. The carrier, along with co-founder Ram Charan, will
announce the promotional fares on July 10.The company, which
currently has two leased 72-seater ATR-72 turbo prop aircraft, is likely
to induct five more by next March and connect about 10 cities. “Metros
are over-crowded but over 60% of regional areas remain unconnected. We
want to explore this potential,” explained Umesh. As per estimates,
TruJet is pumping in Rs 100 crore and employs over 200. It is also
planning a base in Vizag by Sept.
