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Ventura Airconnect Ltd (VAL), an airline operated by Surat-based diamond barons on Saturday resumed its intra-state operations from Surat to Bhavnagar and Rajkot in Gujarat. State civil aviation minister Saurabh Patel inaugurated the first flight from Surat to Bhavnagar.
Notably, the Gujarat government has awarded the tender to VAL to operate intra-state air service thereby providing air connectivity to various cities of the state. VAL is operated by Diamond Aeronautics Pvt Ltd, promoted by diamond barons from Surat.
Earlier this month, the company had received the Air Operator Permit for non-scheduled flight operations from the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
"We have resumed our services to Bhavnagar and Rajkot from Surat. Very soon we will be launching two more routes connecting Kandla with Rajkot and Ahmedabad," Capt Kartikey Garasia, CEO, Ventura AirConnect, told BusinessLine. In late 2015, Ventura's services were suspended for security reasons and expiry of its licence. Currently, there will be two flights flying to each destination with air fares being Rs 4000 for Bhavnagar and Rs 6000 for Rajkot.
Also, VAL plans to launch services between Ahmedabad-Udaipur and Ahmedabad-Indore, by participating in the bidding process for Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
"The services in these states will be in 60:40 ratio with 40 per cent being the inter-state flights," he added.
Currently, Ventura Airconnect uses two air crafts of 9-seater Cessna (single turboprop) 208B Grand Caravans. "Currently, these are sufficient to cater the routes assigned to us. However, considering the future demand, we have already purchased one 9-seater and one 4-seater air crafts in the US. We can bring them here if the demand rises," said Garasia.
Due to air ports at Surat and Ahmedabad being under maintenance for runway expansion and resurfacing, the number of fleet would be less due to flying restrictions during day time.
The government has agreed to provide subsidy of Rs 22,900 per flying hour for 200 hours monthly.
"With government support, we expect to start our services to other locations very soon. The cities to be covered would depend on the State government's directions," said Garasia.
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