Tata-SIA plans September launch

Tata Singapore Airlines plans to start services in September linking Delhi with Mumbai, Goa, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Jammu, Srinagar, Patna and Chandigarh with 87 weekly frequencies in its first year of operation. This detail has been given by the airline in its application to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation for an operating permit.

On Thursday, DGCA issued a public notice seeking suggestions and objections to the grant of permit. The airline is also facing a legal challenge with Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy impleading the airline in a writ petition in Delhi high court.

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To put in perspective IndiGo, the largest domestic airline, flies 494 daily flights while smallest airline GoAir flies 120 daily flights. Tata Singapore Airlines will have twelve daily flights in first year and a flight thrice a week.

The airline spokesperson refused comment.

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The airline's application says it will use Airbus A320 and A320neo planes which are being taken on a dry lease form Wilmington Trust SP Services (Dublin) Limited for six and twelve years respectively.

The airline's operations and maintenance base will be in Delhi. All flights including linked flights will originate in Delhi and all aircraft will return to Delhi for night halt, the application said.

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The application lists the airline's "proposed route patterns" over the next four years.

The airline's actual schedules may vary when it starts operation. In the second the airline will nearly double the number of flights to 164 per week adding flights to Chennai, Lucknow, Pune, Varanasi, Jaipur, Gauwahati and Kolkata. It will add flights to Amritsar, Bagdogra, Indore in third year and to Kochi in fourth year.

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The airline will gradually increase the services between Mumbai and Delhi from twice daily in first two years to five daily flights in third year and seven daily flights in fourth year.

That means 49 weekly flights between the city pair. Delhi-Bangalore will have four flights in fourth year while Delhi-Hyderabad and Delhi-Ahemdabad-Mumbai will be linked thrice daily.

In the third and fourth years number of services will increase to 231 per week and 301 per week respectively.