Air Carnival was an Indian

regional airline A regional airline is a general classification of airline which typically operates scheduled passenger air service, using regional aircraft, between communities lacking sufficient demand or infrastructure to attract mainline flights. In North ...

based at

Coimbatore International Airport Coimbatore International Airport is the primary airport serving the industrial cities of Coimbatore and Tiruppur in Tamil Nadu, India. It is located in the neighbourhood of Peelamedu, about from the center of Coimbatore. It is the 18th-busie ...

with a hub at

Chennai International Airport Chennai International Airport is an international airport serving the city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu and its metropolitan area. It is located in Tirusulam, southwest of the city centre. Chennai International Airport is the sixth busiest air ...

. Air Carnival was

promoted Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

by the Coimbatore Marine College (CMC) Group. It was founded in 2013 as a

charter airline Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a airline ticket, ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad h ...

but transitioned to scheduled operations within

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territo ...

, which were launched in July 2016. The airline ceased operations on 6 April 2017. The Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation suspended its air operator's permit in June 2017. In November 2017, the Chennai bench of the

National Company Law Tribunal The National Company Law Tribunal is a quasi-judicial body in India that adjudicates issues relating to Indian companies. The tribunal was established under the Companies Act 2013 and was constituted on 1 June 2016 by the government of India an ...

(NCLT) ordered the corporate insolvency resolution process against the airline and ordered liquidation of the company in January 2019. Air Carnival M-IBAI at Dubai DXB, Apr 2016

Air Carnival M-IBAI at Dubai DXB, Apr 2016

History

The company was founded in 2013 by S.I. Nathan of the CMC group, as Air Carnival Charter Services, a

based in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

. The group later shifted the focus of Air Carnival to short-haul routes within

Coimbatore Coimbatore, also spelt as Koyamputhur (), sometimes shortened as Kovai (), is one of the major metropolitan cities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyyal River and surrounded by the Western Ghats. Coimbato ...

was selected as the base for its aircraft in order to offer optimum flight timings to the city's business community. Manish Kumar Singh was

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

; and S. I. Nathan, who is also the director of CMC Group, was the founder and

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

. The airline was positioned as a small-town carrier, with a fleet of two aircraft. The plan was to operate on short-haul routes where it could fly profitably with a focus on unserved and poorly served markets. The airline received its no-objection certificate from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation in June 2014 to operate on regional routes in South India. Air Carnival received its first aircraft, an

ATR 72-500 The ATR 72 is a twin-engine turboprop, short-haul regional airliner developed and produced in France and Italy by aircraft manufacturer ATR (french: Avions de transport régional or it, Aerei da Trasporto Regionale), a joint venture formed by ...

, in April 2016 and its air operator's certificate in July 2016. The airline commenced operations on 18 July 2016 with a flight from Coimbatore to Chennai. The promoters ran into funding issues within nine months of operations. Efforts to acquire two more aircraft did not materialise as promoters failed to raise funds. The promoters attempted to sell their stake in the airline in April 2017. However, by then the airline had ceased operations after the airline's engineers demanding wages went on a two-day strike, resulting in the grounding of its lone aircraft. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation suspended Carnival's air operator's certificate in June 2017 after the airline failed to satisfy the regulator in its response to a show-cause notice. In November 2017, the Chennai bench of the NCLT ordered the corporate insolvency resolution process against the airline and, after finding no investors to revive the airline, ordered liquidation of the company in January 2019.

Destinations

Air Carnival was flying to the following destinations in India prior to ceasing operations:

Fleet

Prior to ceasing operations, Air Carnival operated a single

References

External links

* {{Airlines of India Defunct airlines of India Airlines established in 2013 Airlines disestablished in 2017 Companies based in Coimbatore Indian companies disestablished in 2017 Indian companies established in 2013 2013 establishments in Tamil Nadu

History

Destinations

Fleet

See also

References

External links