Air Pegasus was an
Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
regional airline headquartered in
Bangalore
Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
and based at
Kempegowda International Airport. The airline was a subsidiary of Decor Aviation, an aircraft ground-handling services company. It commenced operations on 12 April 2015 with its inaugural flight between Bangalore and Hubli. The airline suspended operations on 27 July 2016, facing financial difficulties. At that time, Air Pegasus was serving eight airports across
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 ...
with a hub at
Kempegowda International Airport in Bangalore, using a fleet of three
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 ...
aircraft. Their flying licence was suspended by DGCA on 22 November 2016.
Managing director
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 ...
Shyson Thomas stated in late 2017 that Air Pegasus would return to the skies in early 2018, as the company had formed a relationship with Dawn Aviation and was about to settle all of its debts. Several cases have been filed against Air Pegasus chairman Shyson Thomas, Shyna Thomas and son Ashwin Thomas who was managing director. Till date no debts have been cleared and Air Pegasus office has been vacated from its MG road address.
History
Air Pegasus took delivery of its first
ATR 72
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 ...
aircraft in September 2014.
It received its Air Operators Permit (AOP) on 24 March 2015 and subsequently commenced operations from 12 April 2015 with its inaugural flight from
Bangalore
Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
to
Hubli
Hubli, officially known as Hubballi, is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. The twin cities Hubli–Dharwad form the second largest city in the state by area and population and the largest city in North Karnataka. Hubli is in Dharwad distr ...
.
The airline suspended operations on 27 July 2016, claiming the suspension was temporary and due to technical issues.
However, the problems were later revealed to be financial in nature. Aircraft lessors approached the
Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to deregister their three aircraft leased to Air Pegasus after the airline defaulted on rental payment. Air Pegasus agreed to pay back 50% of its dues to the lessors and said it would pay the remaining in instalments once flights resume.
Air Pegasus' deal with the lessors collapsed,
and the DGCA deregistered the airline's entire fleet in October 2016.
At the end of the month, however, Air Pegasus managing director Shyson Thomas stated that he was working to obtain an ATR 72 and to resume flights by 15 November.
On 5 October 2016, DGCA issued a show cause notice to Air Pegasus, asking why its AOP should not be suspended for its failure to carry out operations. The regulator had given 15 days for the regional carrier to respond to its notice. As the carrier failed to give assurance on resumption of its operation, DGCA suspended their flying licence on 22 November 2016.
In early 2017, Air Pegasus attempted to work with another airline that had not yet begun operations,
FlyEasy; the latter company would buy a 74% stake in Air Pegasus. However, Air Pegasus did not receive the appropriate funds, and the deal collapsed.
Towards the end of the year, Thomas announced that Air Pegasus had entered into cooperation with Dawn Aviation, which would take a 60% stake in the airline. He also stated that the company's previous debts were close to being settled. Thomas expected to resume flights in the first quarter of 2018 using leased ATR 72-500s.
Destinations
In May 2016, Air Pegasus was flying to the following destinations in India:
Fleet
Ch-aviation reported in December 2017 that Air Pegasus had come into an agreement with a leasing company for the lease of a single
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 ...
. The airline plans to obtain an additional two ATRs afterward in 2018 from
Vietnam Airlines.
See also
*
List of airlines of India
This is a list of airlines which have an air operator's certificate issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation of India.
Scheduled airlines
Currently, 9 scheduled airlines are operating in India.
Regional airlines
Charter a ...
References
External links
*
{{airlines of India
Defunct airlines of India
Airlines established in 2014
Airlines disestablished in 2016
Defunct low-cost airlines
Indian companies established in 2014
Indian companies disestablished in 2016
Companies based in Bangalore
2014 establishments in Karnataka