The Captain G. R. Gopinath-promoted Deccan Shuttles, a specialised wing under Deccan Charters Ltd, on Monday launched its daily charter flights in Gujarat aiming to connect five economic centres in the western State by the year-end.
However, the company has no plans, for now, to set up a major cargo hub in Gujarat, a senior official said.
The company also plans to buy two new Cessna Grand Caravan aircraft at a cost of nearly $6 million (Rs 30 crore), Mr Sanjay Saihgal, Vice President-Business Development, told Business Line here.
Deccan Charters currently has a fleet of 17 aircraft (12 helicopters and 5 fixed-wing) operated in different States.
In its new daily, unscheduled charter flight model, which could be expanded to other States, Deccan Shuttles covers all major industrial and business centres in Gujarat — Ahmedabad, Surat, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar and Kandla — to provide intra-state air connectivity. Until now, these tier-II and III cities were connected by air to either Delhi or Mumbai.
Deccan Shuttles will provide this daily multiple service in Gujarat using the nine-seater Cessna, he said, adding the company expected to break even in nine months. If needed, Deccan Shuttles could summon aircraft from Mumbai to meet the demand.
The company will launch the service on the Ahmedabad-Kandla route on August 27 and the Ahmedabad-Jamnagar route on September 10.
The inaugural flight was on the Ahmedabad-Surat-Bhavnagar-Surat-Bhavnagar-Surat-Ahmedabad route. At present, the 400-km-long road journey between Bhavnagar and Surat takes 8 to 10 hours. With the introduction of air connectivity in the Bhavnagar-Surat segment it will now take only 40 minutes to fly across the Gulf of Cambay. The fare will range between Rs 4,000 and Rs 5,500 per ticket on these routes.
Col. (Retd) Jayanth Poovaiah, Director and CEO, said with this service, the company is also introducing Cessna Grand Caravan aircraft. The company currently manages, maintains or operates over 60 aircraft.
“Our charter services include corporate charters, heli-tourism, heli-pilgrimage, medical evacuation, banner towing, geophysical and mapping services and offshore and logistics support,” he added.
Keywords: Deccan Charters, Captain G. R. Gopinath, Deccan Shuttles launches charter flights in Gujarat, Deccan Shuttles to connect economic centres in Gujarat, Ahmedabad, Surat, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar, Kandla, Deccan Charters to buy two new Cessna Grand Caravan aircraft
Comments:
With respect to Human Development Index (HDI), Gujarat's story is
devastating. The HDI for Gujarat, in 2008, was 0.527 and it ranked 10
{+t} {+h} among major states. Kerala stood first (HDI: 0.790),
Himachal Pradesh scored 0.652, Punjab 0.605, Maharashtra 0.572 and
Haryana 0.552. With respect to three HDI components - income, health
and education - Gujarat does not present a shining story. In this
respect, states like Kerala took the lead in every sector, while
Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and West
Bengal did better than Gujarat.
In the area of credit-deposit ratio, Gujarat is far behind other major
states. In 2010, Gujarat's share in total deposits of the scheduled
commercial banks was 4.70%, as against 5.42%, 6.20%, 6.34% and 26.60%
for Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra, respectively.
The share of Gujarat in total credit disbursed by these commercial banks
was 4.22%; while the same for Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tami Nadu was
29.75%, 6.71% and 9.61% respectively.
During 2001-04, the rate of industrial growth for Gujarat was 3.95%, and
during 2005-09, it was 12.65%. In isolation, this appears to be a
phenomenal jump, but not so when compared to some other states. During
these sub-periods, industrial growth for Orissa was 6.4% and 17.53%; for
Chhattisgarh 8.10% and 13.3%; and for Uttarakhand 18.84% and 11.63%.
Thus, the hitherto industrially backward states have far surpassed
Gujarat
Deccan Shuttles' entry into airospace augers well in the current context of enabling well-founded desirability of infrastructure especially through the huge State-sponsored industrial expansion program on the anvil. Hearty congratulations, Captain Gopinath!
Dr KSB Nayar
Director & Principal Consultant
KARTIKEYA MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS
Ahmedabad 380 054
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