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Air Pegasus, the low-cost airline, set off on its maiden flight from Hubballi Airport on Sunday with Member of Parliament and BJP State President Pralhad Joshi flagging off the flight service. Consequently, this has brought back Hubballi on the air map after SpiceJet.
With SpiceJet dillydallying on resumption of flight services from Hubballi, suspended after the aircraft skidded off the runway at Hubballi airport last month, the launch of the flight services from Hubballi has brought some relief to the regular air passengers, who were forced to travel to Belagavi to catch flights.
Prior to formally flagging off the return flight to Bengaluru of flight 0P112, Joshi wished the Managing Director of Decor Aviation Pvt Ltd (the promoter of Air Pegasus) Shyson Thomas good luck and thanked him for keeping his promise of launching the flight services of the new aviation company from Hubballi.
He hoped that soon the new airlines would operate two schedules daily from Hubballi for the benefit of the passengers. He said Hubballi had the potential for more air traffic and expressed confidence that more airlines would come to Hubballi once the runway expansion work to make it 'Airbus Ready' got over that was likely to happen in October 2015.
Shyson Thomas, who came from a humble beginning to become a chartered accountant and then entered aviation industry through ground handling services, told press persons that while for initial ten days it would be a single schedule in the afternoon, it would be subsequently shifted to morning hours. "My plan is to have two schedules daily from Hubballi and we will decide based on the patronage and other aspects. The inaugural offer is Rs 1,234," he said.
Joshi had earlier handed over boarding passes to the passengers travelling by the first Air Pegasus flight. Director of Hubballi Airport Shivanand Benal clarified that the airport had no technical problem whatsoever and was safe for air traffic.
Earlier in a function at a hotel Director of aircraft manufacturer, ATR Guillaume Huretas handed over a tiny ATR aircraft symbolically to Shyson. Director of Air Pegasus Ashwin Thomas briefed about the plans of the company in improving the regional air connectivity among tier-II and tier-III cities.
