‘We want to make a difference’

Trujet, the youngest regional airline connecting the south, has begun operations during a turbulent phase in the industry when making profits is a huge challenge. Turbo Megha Airways, the promoter of Trujet, has two leased aircraft and plans to add three more over 12-18 months.

Film star Konidala Ram Charan Tej, Promoter-Director and Brand Ambassador of Trujet, outlines the thinking behind the new airline. Son of superstar and politician K Chiranjeevi, Ram Charan, as he is known popularly, is passionate about the airline. In an exclusive interview at his house in Hyderabad’s tony Jubilee Hills suburb, Ram Charan — accompanied by Managing Director Vankayalapati Umesh and Umesh Kumar, Director-Commercial — spoke on the way forward. Excerpts:

A question on everyone’s mind is why would an actor enter into the aviation sector…

I am just an artiste and I like to explore new avenues. The airline came in as an opportunity when some like-minded people felt that there is a business out there.

I too was enthused by the opportunity and potential in the aviation sector, especially in tier II cities, where there is poor connectivity. Secondly, I believe I can also serve as a brand ambassador for the airliner. My focus is not on finances, it is to lend value.

How would you finance the airline? This is a competitive market and many airliners are finding the going tough…

Most of the investment is through equity participation. We do not have any plans to seek loans. We have made arrangements for funding requirements which will take us through for quite some time. All the funding will be met with equity. We do not want to take the recourse to debt. I would not like to comment on my investments.

How would you position your airline?

This will be a low-cost Southern region airline connecting Hyderabad with Tirupati and Rajahmundry, and Chennai-Rajahmundry. Later it is proposed to add Aurangabad for connectivity to Shirdi, Bengaluru, Hubballi and possibly Goa. We want to make a difference to the middle class by offering them flights at affordable prices.

The accent is on convenience. Unlike some other low-cost airlines, we will not only provide meals free of cost in the flights but also add to their convenience by offering pick up and drop from select locations in the destinations we connect. We will also offer concessional fare to senior citizens, cinema artistes in South and also for students up to the age of 18 years.

How many aircraft are you starting with and what are your plans?

We are starting with two leased 72-seater ATRs, and will expand as per market requirement and potential for business opportunity. These will be increased to five. Once the fleet goes up to five, we would have greater flexibility to connect more centres in the South. These include Hubli, Mangalore, Chennai, Tuticorin, Coimbatore, Pune and Goa.

We will grow organically. The aircraft we have chosen have a successful track record.

Don’t you think it is crowded out there?

We believe there is space in the segment we are targeting that is Tier II and III cities. There is definitely space for another budget airline like Trujet and small cities need good connectivity. Some of the sectors we have chosen are also pilgrim centres such as Tirupati and Shirdi. May be over the next three years we will go pan India.

How did the idea start? And by when do you see break even?

We hit upon the idea about 18 months ago and recently secured the DGCA nod. Having started with two aircraft, we will step it up to five aircraft. It takes about $20-25 million per aircraft. We expect it will take about three years to break even.

Why are you are also considering an MRO (maintenance, repair and operations)?

This will be a small one relating to maintenance and spares and might entail an investment of about ₹20-25 crore and come up in GMR Aero Park in Hyderabad airport.

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