The Hindu Business Line : First Flight on its own wings

FIRST FLIGHT'S Deputy Managing Director, Mr R. K. Saboo, with the eight-tonne aircraft, the first of a fleet of three that the company will put into operation soon.

Courier company First Flight is to take to the skies with its own aircraft later this month. The company's Deputy Managing Director, Mr R. K. Saboo, said: "We should be ready to take to the skies by the second or third week of this month.

Our first aircraft is already here and a team has left to take acceptance of the second aircraft," he added. At the moment the company uses belly space in passenger aircraft for its courier business. The first aircraft, an advanced turbo-prop freighter that has been leased for seven year, is parked at a private airfield at Hosur, near Bangalore. The aircraft that the company is acquiring have a capacity of eight tonnes.

First Flight plans to have a fleet of three aircraft in the first phase and may look at either acquiring some more of the same kind of aircraft or getting larger aircraft in the second phase.

"We have not decided on the number or type of aircraft, which are likely to be inducted in the second phase. This would largely depend on how the first phase evolves," Mr Saboo added.

The funding for the project is to be entirely through internal accruals and the company plans to use each aircraft for 175-200 hours per month. The routing of the aircraft would depend on the infrastructure available at the airports around the country. "The routes would be finalised taking into consideration cargo and warehousing facilities that are available at airports," said Mr Saboo.

However, the company is clear that its primary focus would be to operate the aircraft in the domestic skies.

"As an established express operator we have our existing customers who would take up 65-70 per cent of the space in the aircraft being acquired," Mr Saboo said.

The company estimates that the induction of the aircraft should see a 30 per cent growth in revenues and a 15-20 per cent increase in tonnage carried by it. The company reported revenues of Rs 203.15 crore in 2005 up from Rs 181.24 crore the previous year. The company is among the largest domestic courier operators handling over 325,000 shipments daily.