AIRLINES FORM JOINT VENTURE WITH GSEC FOR UDAN

IST Air service operators Air Deccan and Air Odisha have joined hands with Gujaratbased cargo operator and investors Gujarat State Export Corporation (GSEC) Ltd and Monarch Group, for catering to routes under UDAN. While Monarch has been in the business of financial and capital market advisory, GSEC run by Adani Group, is into air cargo services. Dismissing speculations of a buyout, Captain G.R. Gopinath of Air Deccan said, “This is a partnership between Air Odisha, Air Deccan, GSEC and Monarch. Each of us has strengths such as Air Odisha’s huge network, GSEC and Monarch as investors and Air Deccan’s experience. We have created a JV to grow this infrastructure to link metros to rural towns under UDAN.” While Air Odisha has bagged 50 routes and Air Deccan 34 of the total 124 routes under UDAN, Gopinath said that the JV will help the players optimise their resources.

“One company with a given number of aircraft is not sufficient for scale and optimisation of resources. We found that each of the company was small in terms of operations and maintenance. So there is a coming together since these also needed investments. They are making 62 airports. This requires huge engineering, infrastructure and manpower,” said Gopinath while adding that there were other partners in the JV whose names could not be disclosed.