Indian regional airline Air Costa has gained approval to start operations nationwide following the granting of a Pan-Indian license from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
The Andhra Pradesh-based carrier has so far been serving eight destinations – Vijayawada, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Tirupathi and Vizag since launching three years ago.
It operates a fleet of four Embraer 190 aircraft.
Approval ‘opens the avenues to add more destinations including trunk sectors such as Delhi, Mumbai and other sectors with growing air travel population such as Lucknow, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Indore,’ the airline said in a release.
"We have plans to connect Delhi and Mumbai to smaller towns and cities across India. Our immediate focus now moves to adding aircraft and expanding our operations," said CEO Vivek Choudhary.
The airline has had a rocky ride recently with rumours of cash flow problems delaying salaries for workers and in August was forced to ground operations for a day due to a dispute with its aircraft lessor.
