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TruJet

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TruJet
IATA ICAO Call sign
2T[1] TRJ[1] TRUJET[2]
Founded14 March 2013 (2013-03-14)
Commenced operations12 July 2015 (2015-07-12)
Ceased operations15 February 2022 (2022-02-15)
HubsHyderabad
Secondary hubs
Destinations12
Parent companyNS Aviation Pvt. Ltd.
HeadquartersHyderabad, Telangana, India
Key peopleDr Mohammed Ali (Chairman), Mrs Isha Ali (Vice Chairman)

TruJet was an Indian regional airline based at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad. The airline commenced operations in July 2015 and ceased all operations in February 2022. At its peak, the airline had seven aircraft, and was India's longest serving regional airline.[5]

History

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Turbo Megha Airways Private Limited was incorporated on March 14, 2013 with Ram Charan and Vankayalapati Umesh as promoters,[6] with the backing of 20 investors.[7] The company planned to operate ATR aircraft primarily aimed at pilgrims and middle class travellers to destinations like Tirupati.[8] The airline obtained a No Objection Certificate from the Ministry of Civil Aviation on 21 July 2014.[9] In August 2014, the promoters sold a 90 per cent stake in the airline to Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Limited (MEIL) in order to fund their operations.[10][11]

The airline adopted the brand name TruJet in February 2015.[12][13] TruJet received its air operator's certificate for regional operations from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation on 7 July 2015.[14] The airline commenced operations on 12 July with a flight from its Hyderabad hub to Tirupati.[15][8] The airline's Air Operators Permit (AOP) was changed to the scheduled commuter operator (SCO) category by the DGCA in May 2017, allowing the carrier to operate flights to other regions of India under the government's UDAN Regional Connectivity Scheme.[16]

By 2018, the airline was operating to 20 destinations with five ATR aircraft and had carried around 1.2 million passengers. TruJet's operated over 300 UDAN flights a week, amounting to about 73 per cent of its total capacity. But by 2019, the airline began seeing cancellations. In 2020 the Covid-19 pandemic brought in further operational difficulties.[17]

From 12 July 2020, five out of seven ATR aircraft operated by TruJet were grounded by lessors due unpaid dues.[18]

On 1 April 2021, Trujet announced that US firm Interups had purchased a 49% stake in the company. In an interview, Laxmi Prasad, the chairman of Interups stated that they planned to expand services across the country as well as overseas, and to entrer into market segments such as cargo, private charters, and helicopter ambulance services.[19] Interups' new investment plan would involve the purchase of narrow body aircraft such as the Airbus A220 and the Embraer E-Series.[19] However, as of July the funds had not been released.[20]

MEIL transferred the airline's ownership to its former owner Vankayalapati Umesh for an undisclosed amount in October 2021. Umesh took over as the Managing Director on October 9 even as most of the board of TruJet resigned.[21]

TruJet recorded an operating loss of Rs 143 crore FY21, while the operating loss stood at Rs 10.1 crore in FY20 and Rs 17.56 crore in FY19.[5] On 15 February 2022, TruJet ceased all operations owing to financial crisis.[22][23]

Efforts were made to restart the airline with the help of investors. In May 2022, We Indian Nationals Aviation Private Limited (Winair), a company headquartered in Nagpur, announced that it had acquired a 79% stake in Trujet.[24] In June 2023, US-based aviation company NS Aviation announced that it had acquired an 85 per cent stake in the airline and had plans to revive the airline by end of 2023.[25]

Destinations

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TruJet used to operate from the following destinations as of June 2021.[26][27]

Airport City State Notes Refs
Kadapa Airport Kadapa Andhra Pradesh
Rajahmundry Airport Rajahmundry
Tirupati Airport Tirupati
Vijayawada Airport Vijayawada
Dabolim Airport Dabolim Goa Terminated
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport Ahmedabad Gujarat Hub
Kandla Airport Kandla
Porbandar Airport Porbandar
Belagavi Airport Belagavi Karnataka
Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru
Bidar Airport Bidar [28]
Mysore Airport Mysuru
Jindal Vijaynagar Airport Ballari
Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Airport Indore Madhya Pradesh Terminated
Aurangabad Airport Aurangabad Maharashtra Terminated
Jalgaon Airport Jalgaon Terminated
Kolhapur Airport Kolhapur
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport Mumbai
Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji Airport Nanded Terminated
Nashik Airport Nashik
Jaisalmer Airport Jaisalmer Rajasthan
Chennai International Airport Chennai Tamil Nadu Hub
Coimbatore International Airport Coimbatore Terminated
Salem Airport Salem
Rajiv Gandhi International Airport Hyderabad Telangana Hub

Fleet

[edit]
TruJet ATR 72-500

As of July 2022, TruJet operates the following aircraft:[citation needed]

TruJet fleet
Aircraft In service Orders Passengers Notes
ATR 72-500 0 — 70
ATR 72-600 0 — 70
Total 0

References

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  1. ^ a b "TruJet". ch-aviation. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
  2. ^ "JO 7340.2G Contractions" (PDF). Federal Aviation Administration. 5 January 2017. pp. 3–1–101. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  3. ^ "Trujet dismisses disruption of services as minor glitch, says will add two new bases | Hyderabad News - Times of India". Timesofindia.indiatimes.com. 14 August 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  4. ^ "Trujet to double fleet, takes it to 10 ATRs; adds 10 more destinations by end of 2019". The Hindu BusinessLine. 12 July 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Who gains if TruJet doesn't restart?". Moneycontrol. 16 February 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  6. ^ "Trujet to add three more aircraft, will invest Rs 500 crore". Deccan Chronicle. 11 July 2015.
  7. ^ T. E., Narasimhan (29 July 2015). "Trujet builds a budget brand". Business Standard. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  8. ^ a b Reddy, U. Sudhakar (14 February 2015). "Ram Charan's airlines to start services from April". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  9. ^ Krishnamoorthy, Suresh (22 July 2014). "Ramcharan Tej forays into airline biz". The Hindu. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  10. ^ "Megha Airways looks to sell majority stake". The Economic Times. 20 August 2014. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  11. ^ "TruJet mulls IPO after 3 years; expects Rs 600 Cr topline by FY22". The Economic Times. 12 July 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  12. ^ "India's Turbo Megha Airways to become TruJet on launch". ch-aviation. 23 February 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  13. ^ Kesireddy, Raji (19 February 2015). "Turbo Megha Airways may start regional airline TruJet in 2 months, post final approval". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  14. ^ "With DGCA nod, Trujet becomes the latest to enter domestic skies". The Indian Express. 8 July 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  15. ^ "India's TruJet commences operations". ch-aviation. 14 July 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  16. ^ "Turbo Megha Airways gets AOC to expand UDAN flights to Mumbai, Shirdi". The Economic Times. 17 May 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  17. ^ "How a gospel DJ-turned-event manager-turned civil contractor became India's newest airline owner". Forbes India. 24 May 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  18. ^ "End of runway for TruJet". The Hindu Business Line. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  19. ^ a b "India's Trujet to buy 54 A220s, 54 E2s, says new investor". ch-aviation. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  20. ^ "US-based Interups yet to infuse funds into regional airline TruJet". The Hindu Business Line. 15 July 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  21. ^ "Ex-promoter Vankayalapati Umesh regains control of TruJet from MEIL". Hindu Businessline. 12 October 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  22. ^ "TruJet suspends all flights". CNBC TV18. 16 February 2022. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  23. ^ "Regional airline TruJet suspends all flights, airline says in talks with investor for $25 million funding". MSN. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  24. ^ "Winair To Acquire 79% of TruJet". AviationSource. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  25. ^ "TruJet's New Avatar, The NS Airline, Set to Soar in Indian Skies". N4M Media. 8 July 2023. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  26. ^ "By 2020, Nashik likely to be one of India's busiest airports". Freepressjournal : Latest Indian news,Live updates. 19 January 2019. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  27. ^ "TruJet Schedule" (PDF). www.trujet.co.uk. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  28. ^ "TruJet Bidar to Bangalore flight". TruJet. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
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