Just Udo Aviation Private Limited, doing business as Fly91 (stylised as FLY91), is an Indian

low-cost A no-frills or no frills service or product is one for which the non-essential features have been removed to keep the price low. The term "Ruffle (sewing), frills" originally refers to a style of fabric decoration. Something offered to customers f ...

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 ...

headquartered in

Ribandar Ribandar is a town in Tiswadi, Goa, located between the cities of Panjim (Nova Goa) and Old Goa (Velha Goa). Etymology The name Ribandar originates from "Rayachem Bandar" in Konkani meaning the wharves, docks or portage of the ''Rayas'' ...

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 bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It operates from its base at

Manohar International Airport Manohar International Airport , is an international airport at Mopa in Pernem taluka, North Goa district in the state of Goa, India. It serves North Goa and the adjoining districts of Karnataka and Maharashtra, and as a second airport of Goa ...

in Mopa,

North Goa district North Goa district is one of the two districts that constitutes the state of Goa, India. The district has an area of , and is bounded by Kolhapur and Sindhudurg districts of Maharashtra state to the north and by Belgavi district of Karnatak ...

, with a fleet of three

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. The number "72" in its name is derived from the aircraft's typical standard seating capacity of 72 pa ...

aircraft, to tier-2 and 3 cities of India. It was founded in January 2023 by former aviation veterans involved in

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. ...

, Harsha Raghavan and Manoj Chacko. It began commercial operations from 18 March 2024 to

Sindhudurg Sindhudurg Fort (Marathi pronunciation: in̪d̪ʱud̪uɾɡ is a historical sea fort located in Arabian Sea near the Konkan region of Maharashtra in Western India. The fort, commissioned by Chhatrapati Shivaji, was constructed between 1664 ...

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

and

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

from its base at Goa with flights to

Lakshadweep Lakshadweep () is a union territory of India. It is an archipelago of 36 islands divided into three island subgroups: the Amindivi Islands in the north, the Laccadive Islands (separated from Amindivi roughly by the 11th parallel north), and th ...

Jalgaon Jalgaon () is a city in the state of Maharashtra, India. The city is located in North Maharashtra in the subregion of Khandesh, and serves as the administrative headquarters of its namesake district, the Jalgaon district. In the subregion of ...

and other regional cities from April 2024 onwards.

History

The airline was founded on 9 January 2023 by former aviation veterans, Harsha Raghavan, who was the former head of Fairfax India, and Manoj Chacko, who was the former vice-executive of

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

-based

WNS Global Services WNS (Holdings) Limited () is an Indian multinational business process management company. The company is headquartered in New York, London and Mumbai. The company employs over 62,000 individuals. WNS is publicly traded on the New York Stock Ex ...

. They were also a part of

that ceased operations in October 2012 due to bankruptcy. Before announcing the formation of the airline, on 8 December 2021, Harsha Raghavan, the company's as well as the current founder and chairman of the airline, who also created Convergent Finance LLP in 2018, in collaboration with Manoj Chacko's WNS Global Services, incorporated the companies to form 'Just Udo Aviation Private Limited'. They set up its headquarters at

near the capital of

Panaji Panaji (; , , )also known as Panjim, is the capital of the Indian state of Goa and the headquarters of North Goa district. Previously, it was the territorial capital of the former Portuguese India. It lies on the banks of the Mandovi river est ...

, and its registered office in Mumbai. It made its base at

at Mopa in

, to promote and facilitate tourism in the state. The airline applied to the Ministry of Civil Aviation for the

No Objection Certificate No Objection Certificate, popularly abbreviated as NOC, is a type of legal certificate issued by any agency, organisation, institute or, in certain cases, an individual. It does not object to the covenants of the certificate. The certification is ...

(NOC) to launch scheduled domestic services in the same month. The Ministry of Civil Aviation granted the NOC to the airline in April 2023. The airline is headed with an initial investment. In June 2023, the airline revealed its logo and

livery A livery is an identifying design, such as a uniform, ornament, symbol, or insignia that designates ownership or affiliation, often found on an individual or vehicle. Livery often includes elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or ...

, based on the scenic and natural environment of Goa, and planned to begin operations by the end of 2023. On 26 July 2023, the airline, along with numerous others, received slots from the Ministry of Civil Aviation to begin flights under the government's UDAN Scheme to regional destinations, like

Kolhapur Kolhapur () is a city on the banks of the Panchganga River in the southern part of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Kolhapur is one of the most significant cities in South Maharashtra and has been a hub of historical, religious, and cultural a ...

Solapur Solapur () is a city located in the south-western region of the States and Territories of India, Indian state of Maharashtra, close to its border with Karnataka. Solapur is located on major highway, rail routes between Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore ...

Nanded Nanded is a city in Maharashtra state, India. It is the List of cities in Maharashtra, tenth largest city in the state and the List of cities in India by population, seventy-ninth most populated city in India. It is the second largest city in ...

and bigger cities like

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

and

Bengaluru Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

. The airline received its first aircraft, an

, on 30 January 2024. The second aircraft was delivered on 28 February 2024. The airline began proving flights from its base at Manohar International Airport to

with its aircraft on 2 March 2024 to get the

Air Operator's Certificate An air operator's certificate (AOC) is the approval granted by a civil aviation authority (CAA) to an aircraft operator to allow it to use aircraft for commercial air transport purposes. This requires the operator to have personnel, assets and s ...

(AOC), which is necessary for an airline to begin commercial operations. It adopted the

IATA code IATA codes are abbreviations that the International Air Transport Association (IATA) publishes to facilitate air travel. They are typically 1, 2, 3, or 4 character combinations (referred to as unigrams, digrams, trigrams, or tetragrams, respec ...

"IC", which was the code for

Indian Airlines Indian Airlines was a state-owned airline in India that later became a division of Air India Limited before ultimately ceasing operations. It was based in Delhi and focused primarily on domestic routes, along with several international servic ...

that closed down in 2011. On 6 March 2024, the AOC was granted to it by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). On 12 March 2024, after the first inaugural flight service with passengers from Goa to Lakshadweep was operated by the airline, it announced that it will begin regular flights from its base at

and

to Bengaluru and

from 18 March 2024. Hence, it began operations on the routes on 18 March, and added

and

to its destinations from 18 April 2024.

Corporate affairs

Fly91, stylised as FLY91, is the brand name for Just Udo Aviation Private Limited. The company is headquartered in

near

South Goa district South Goa district is one of two districts that together constitute the state of Goa, India, within the region known as the Konkan. It is bounded by North Goa district to the north, while the Arabian Sea forms its western coast. It ranks among th ...

, has its registered office in

and has its operating base at

in Mopa,

. Its chairman and founder is Harsha Raghavan and its MD and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

is Manoj Chacko. The airline has been funded with equity to begin operations. As of April 2024, the airline has 200 employees, and will recruit 25 employees for every aircraft upon deliveries, thereby taking the overall number to 350 employees by the end of 2024. It currently has two leased

aircraft, and will have a total of six aircraft by the end of 2024.

Logo and livery

The airline's logo and livery feature pastel blue and yellow colours, which are inspired by the scenic, peaceful and serene environment of the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea () is a region of sea in the northern Indian Ocean, bounded on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel, on the northwest by Gulf of Oman and Iran, on the north by Pakistan, on the east by India, and ...

, the beaches of

and the Western Ghats. Its tagline ''Bharat Unbound'' is shown on the rear side of the

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...

, giving a description of the airline's focus on connectivity, tourism and punctuality. The livery also features a black cockpit mask surrounding the windows of the cockpit's exterior, which airlines like

Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada, by size and passengers carried. Air Canada is headquartered in the borough of Saint-Laurent in the city of Montreal. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and cha ...

use to enhance the look of their aircraft. On the tail, the airline's name is featured in white captions in a pastel blue surface. The name "Fly91" comes from India's country dialling code "+91".

Destinations

The airline began operations from 18 March 2024 from its base at

in Mopa, Goa. As of May 2024, it operates to the following destinations:

Network development

On 12 March 2024, after the airline announced it would begin operations from 18 March 2024, the MD and

of the airline, Manoj Chacko, announced that in the first four months, the airline would start flights from

and

from 18 March 2024, followed by flights to

Agatti Agatti Island () is a 7.6 km long island, situated on a coral atoll called Agatti atoll in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, India. It is west of the city of Kochi. Geography Agatti is located about 364 km off Kannur, 394 km ...

and

from April 2024. Then, by 2025, it will fly to at least 12 cities, and in the next five years, the airline plans to fly to at least 50 cities from six bases, as part of its focus on connectivity and facilitating the next 100 million air passengers in India.

Fleet

Current fleet

As of April 2024, the airline consists of the following aircraft:

Fleet development

On 12 March 2024, after the airline announced it would begin operations from 18 March 2024, the MD and

of the airline, Manoj Chacko, announced that it will have a fleet of six aircraft by the next four months. The current fleet has a capacity to handle 70-72 passengers at one time, but it could be extended to 76 in the near future. Then, in the next five years, the airline will add 6-7 aircraft per year, and will have a total of 30-35 aircraft.

Services

The airline, after beginning operations, covers destinations in its network ranging from a travel time of 1-1.5 hours. It offers buy-on-board service for snacks and beverages, with seat selection charges to be applicable between five and six rows out of 18 rows. It also offers more facilities to enhance passenger experience upon its expansion as a last-mile carrier for regional connectivity, similar to other

operators, like

IndiGo InterGlobe Aviation Limited (d/b/a IndiGo), is an India, Indian airline headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana, India. It is the largest List of airlines of India, airline in India by passengers carried and fleet size, with a 64.1% domestic market ...

and Alliance Air. It provides privileges for physically challenged passengers, like wheelchairs, emergency and medical facilities and allows pets to be carried on board.

References

External links

* {{Airlines of India Airlines of India Airlines established in 2023 Indian companies established in 2023 Indian companies established in 2018