Star Air, the regional airline based out of Bengaluru is launching more flights with its E175s, three of which are in the fleet with one more joining soon. The airline will connect Nagpur to Kishangarh starting Sept 30, 2023. The airline will deploy the Embraer E175 on this route, which is configured in two classes comprising 12 Business class and 64 economy class seats. The new route is part of next round of RCS-UDAN where a total of 40 routes have been allocated to Star Air. The airline currently has a fleet of five E145s and three E175, which at eight is the highest a regional airline has had in India.
Kishangarh has been one of the success stories of RCS-UDAN with the greenfield airport being operationalized in 2017. The airport saw flights from SpiceJet and later by Star Air. However, it did not truly graduate to a commercially self sustainable airport as the scheme aims and is relying again on subsidized flights for connectivity. The route is interesting since there is no historic information of traffic on this route. SpiceJet has shut its operations, where it operated the lucrative route from Delhi.
Star Air’s E175s feature 12 business class seats with 36 inch pitch in a 1-2 arrangement.
Kishangarh may be referred to as the Marble city of India but it acts as a gateway to Pushkar and Ajmer – two places of religious importance.
The flight operates thrice a week (Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays) till Oct 12, 2023 and starting Oct 14, 2023, it operates five times a week with Friday and Sunday as additional days of operations.
- It will depart Hyderabad for Nagpur at 1000hrs and reach Nagpur at 1115hrs
- It will leave Nagpur for Kishangarh at 1150hrs and reach Kishangarh at 1320hrs
- On its return, the flight will depart Kishangarh at 131350hrs and reach Nagpur at 1520hrs
- It will leave Nagpur at 1550hrs and reach Hyderabad at 1655hrs
The airline currently operates thrice a week to Nagpur from Belgaum, operated by the E145s.
Network Thoughts
The choice of E175 for this route is surprising. With no history of passengers and anecdotal data showing the Kishangarh markets being in demand from Delhi and Mumbai more than other cities and definitely not Nagpur, one would have expected the E145s to be the route openers. However, the E145s are already being utilized by the airline and it seems that the airline has bid for these routes with the E175s. The Business class in particular would be of interest for passengers visiting Kishangarh from Hyderabad. The one-stop connectivity is better than two PNRs and self-connect, besides in this case after SpiceJet pulling out of Kishangarh – there are no other options!
Kishangarh served 58,709 passengers FY22-23, while it served 138,981 passengers in FY21-22, 95,083 in FY20-21; 126,558 in FY19-20; 22,877 in FY18-19. So far this financial year, Kishangarh Airport’s footfall has been only 5,746 passengers.
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