To provide relief to passengers who suffered from expensive tickets due to IndiGo airline flight cancellations between December 4 and 10, the central government granted permission for domestic flights to three new airlines last week. One of these airlines is Shankh Air, which will commence its flight services from March from several cities in Uttar Pradesh, including Lucknow.
These services will not only increase competition among airline companies at Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport but could also lead to a reduction in passenger fares if a fare war ensues once again. Since the shutdown of the low-fare airline Go First at Lucknow Airport, the dominance of IndiGo airline has increased.
120 domestic and international flights are operated daily from Lucknow Airport. More than 70 per cent of these flights belong to IndiGo airline. Following the recent cancellations of IndiGo airline flights, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has given an NOC to Al Hind Air and Fly Express for the domestic market. Meanwhile, Shankh Air, which had already received its NOC, has been granted permission to operate. Shankh Air is a Lucknow-based airline company.
The company will launch its services in March with five aircraft in the first phase. These will include three Airbus A320 and two A320 Neo category aircraft.
Shankh Air's Chairman, Shravan Kumar Vishwakarma, says that the airline's fare and service policy will be formulated with middle-class families in mind. The plan is to attract passengers who can afford expensive train tickets but hesitate to travel by air.
In the first phase, there are plans to connect Lucknow to 10 cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Bagdogra. In the next phase, several cities including Delhi, Mumbai, and Ahmedabad will be connected from Varanasi, Ayodhya, and Prayagraj. In the third phase, services will also commence from other cities in Uttar Pradesh such as Kanpur, Prayagraj, Agra, and Varanasi.
The company will also start international flights from Lucknow to several destinations, including Dubai, in late 2028. The airline will not increase economy class fares during any season or in periods of high demand. However, travel for business class passengers may be somewhat more expensive, with some additional services.
Born in Unnao, Shravan Kumar Vishwakarma studied up to the tenth grade at the Government Inter College. In 2010, he left his studies and drove a rented tempo between Unnao and Kanpur. After that, he did some odd jobs and then moved to Lucknow. Here, he took up an agency for cement and steel rods and then got involved in mining work. Today, he owns a fleet of 472 trucks.
Shravan Kumar Vishwakarma flew for the first time in 2017 and then, in 2022, made a plan to launch Shankh Air. He made rounds of airline-related offices in Delhi. Shravan, a Hindi speaker, went abroad and spoke with officials from the Airbus company. Now, five aircraft have been built for him in Bulgaria and are ready.