Damania Airways was an Indian airline headquartered in
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
, that operated from 1993 to 1997. It was founded by the brothers, Parvez and Vispi Damania. Parvez later played a vital role in
Sahara India Pariwar
Sahara India Pariwar (''pariwar'' being Hindi for "family") is an Indian conglomerate headquartered in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. The group operates business sectors such as finance, infrastructure & housing, real estate, sports, power, ma ...
in their venture
Air Sahara
JetLite was a low-cost subsidiary of Jet Airways. It was formerly known as ''Air Sahara'' until the buyout by Jet Airways which rebranded the airline as JetLite. On April 17, 2019, JetLite grounded all of its flights and ceased all operations ...
and then went on to become the Executive Director of
Kingfisher Airlines
Kingfisher Airlines Limited was an airline group based in India. It was established in 2003 and started its commercial operations in 2005. Through its parent company United Breweries Group, it had a 50% stake in low-cost carrier Kingfisher Red. ...
. Vispi later became the VP Finance of
Kingfisher Airlines
Kingfisher Airlines Limited was an airline group based in India. It was established in 2003 and started its commercial operations in 2005. Through its parent company United Breweries Group, it had a 50% stake in low-cost carrier Kingfisher Red. ...
.
History
Damania Airways was founded in 1992 and began flying on 10 March 1993 with two Boeing 737 aircraft leased from TAP Air of Portugal. With its base in Bombay (Now
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
), the airline had a regular schedule of flights to
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 ...
,
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
,
Madras
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
,
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 ...
,
Goa
Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...
and
Indore
Indore () is the largest and most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of both Indore District and Indore Division. It is also considered as an education hub of the state and is t ...
. An additional two aircraft were leased later.
This was an extremely competitive period for domestic Indian aviation as the domestic aviation sector had been reopened to private participation after many decades, and the government-owned monopoly of Indian Airlines ceased. The government designated the new airlines as 'air taxis'. Some of the prominent airlines of that time were Jet Airways, East West, ModiLuft, and Continental.
Parvez Damania's intention to bring an 'international' standard of flying to domestic Indian aviation made the airline a big draw among domestic flyers. The airline was extremely successful and its superior in-flight service soon became the standard for domestic Indian aviation. By the end of 1993, the airline had carried over 200,000 passengers even though they accounted for just 2 per cent of traffic.
In 1994, the Indian Government granted scheduled domestic airline status to nine private air-taxi operators including Damania Airways. Damania Airways was the first domestic airline to utilise permission granted by the Aviation Ministry and offer alcohol in-flight.
In 1995, under pressure from Indian Airlines to ensure a level playing field, the Aviation Ministry mandated that the private airlines must fly a certain number of flights on secondary routes to 'qualify' to fly to the major, profitable routes. The Aviation Ministry also delayed approvals to the private airlines to obtain smaller aircraft for the secondary routes. This completely altered the financials of flying and many airlines succumbed to the impossible stipulations. Damania Airways' superior draw helped the airline stay aloft for longer than most other airlines, but the delay in permissions to bring in smaller aircraft and the restrictions of destinations became a punishing two-pronged pressure.
The Chennai-based Khemka-owned NEPC group, promoters of the Skyline NEPC airline, acquired management control of the airline in May 1995. Skyline NEPC's existing fleet was composed entirely of Fokker turboprop aircraft, and their network covered only small towns. This fleet profile, when combined with the 737 fleet of Damania Airways, would have allowed the airline to claim credit for the flights flown between the secondary towns while reserving the 737 jets for the major cities. With a view to capitalising on the Damania Airways brand draw, Skyline NEPC flew the Damania Airways aircraft with the original Damania Airways livery. Within a few months, the entire airline was renamed Skyline NEPC.
NEPC Airlines
NEPC Airlines was a private airline that operated from 1993 to 1997. It was headquartered in Chennai, then known as Madras, and was promoted by the Chennai-based NEPC group, founded by Ravi Prakash Khemka.
History
The NEPC (Natural Energy Proces ...
and its subsidiary, Skyline NEPC, were grounded 2 years later in 1997. The
International Air Transport Association
The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff ...
(IATA) suspended them for non-payment of dues, following which they were taken off the computerised reservation system (CRS).
References
{{Airlines of India
Daman, India
Defunct airlines of India
Airlines established in 1992
Airlines disestablished in 1997
Indian companies disestablished in 1997
Indian companies established in 1992
Companies based in Mumbai
1992 establishments in Maharashtra