Despite having won the bid almost a year ago, Madhya Pradesh-based Ventura Airlines' intra-state flight plans in Gujarat has not yet seen the light of the day.
Ventura Airlines, which has been successfully running intra-state operations in MP since three years, is yet to get a green signal for its Ventura AirConnect from the Gujarat government due to some "policy issues".
"This has been disappointing and disillusioning for us. We had officially won the bid in July-August but till now the government has not granted us the permission to fly in the state. We were given a commitment that we might be allowed to fly after March since Deccan Shuttles was shutting its shop in Gujarat but it has still not happened," said Pradeep Agarwal, Chairman of Ventura Airlines.
The company is intending to invest over Rs 150 crore for bringing in about four aircrafts for its intra-state airline services in Gujarat.
When contacted, Saurabh Patel, minister of state for civil aviation said, "Ventura Airlines had indeed won the bid. But there are still certain policy issues that need to be sorted out before we can go ahead with the intra-state airline services in Gujarat. We will soon be meeting with the company."
On its part, the company has sought a government guarantee for certain seats per flight. It needs to be mentioned here that Madhya Pradesh was the first state to start regional aviation service wherein it entered into a seat-sharing agreement with Ventura Airlines.
"The seat sharing agreement has actually helped the MP government save lakhs of rupees which it would have otherwise spent on travel and stay of its officials. The same kind of agreement has been sought with the Gujarat government," said Agarwal.
According to Agarwal, if the Gujarat government commits for seat-sharing worth Rs 18 crore per annum, it would be able to save more than Rs 25 crore which would have been otherwise spent on travel and accommodation of its government officials.
The Civil Aviation Department of Government of Gujarat has identified five circuits such as Ahmedabad-Surat-Bhavnagar, Bhuj-Rajkot-Ahmedabad, Ahmedabad-Porbandar-Jamnagar, Kandla-Mandvi-Amreli-Ahmedabad, and Ahmedabad-Keshod-Diu as well as 11 airstrips including Ambaji, Palitana, Ankleshwar, Dwarka, Mandvi (Kutch), Morbi, Rajkot, Parsoli, Rajpipla, Dholavira and Dahej for development of intra-state aviation.
Earlier, Captain Gopinath-led Deccan Shuttles had launched its intra-state airline services in August 2012 in Gujarat.
However, within eight months of launching chartered flights in Gujarat, it suspended its operations. Deccan Shuttles had commenced 9-seater flights between Bhavnagar and Surat as well as Ahmedabad and Kandla but shut shop in March 2013.
