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Alliance Air (India)

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This article is about the Indian airline. For other uses, see Alliance Air.

Alliance Air
IATA ICAO Call sign
9I[1] LLR[1] ALLIED[2]
Commenced operations15 April 1996; 28 years ago (1996-04-15)
Hubs
Fleet size21
Destinations75
Parent companyAir India Asset Holdings Limited
HeadquartersDelhi, India
Key people
FounderGovernment of India
RevenueIncrease₹7,241.10 crore (US$870 million) (FY 2021-22)[3]
Operating incomeDecrease₹−4,464.33 crore (US$−530 million) (FY 2021-22)[3]
ProfitDecrease₹−4,473.92 crore (US$−540 million) (FY 2021-22)[3]
Total equityDecrease₹28,050.35 crore (US$3.4 billion) (FY 2021-22)[3]
Employees835 (as of 31 March 2022)
Websitewww.allianceair.in

Alliance Air (formerly Air India Regional) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Air India Asset Holdings Limited. Which is a special purpose vehicle formed by the Government of India after the disinvestment of Air India Limited. It was founded in April 1996 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Indian Airlines (later merged with Air India in 2011 and remained a subsidiary till 2022) and mainly operates domestic routes as part of the government's Regional Connectivity Scheme. Government of India notified Alliance Air as Designated Indian Flag Carrier.[4]

History

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Alliance Air was founded in April 1996 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Indian Airlines.[5] The parent company wished to make better use of its Boeing 737 fleet, so it wet-leased 12 of these aircraft to Alliance Air.[6] The subsidiary operated its first flight on 15 April 1996. Alliance Air served as a low-cost feeder airline for Indian Airlines, providing connections to the latter's hubs from various smaller cities across the country. In 2002, the airline was offering flights to 44 destinations in India utilising a fleet of 11 Boeing 737-200s.[5] On 1 April 1997, Vayudoot Airlines, a joint venture of Air India and Indian Airlines, merged with Alliance Air to serve the regional air routes of Northeast India and several other parts of India.

In November 2013, Air India announced that it would dry lease eight ATR-72 aircraft to replace Alliance Air's ageing fleet of ATR 42 and CRJ700 aircraft.[7] The airline inducted its first ATR 72-600 aircraft in to its fleet in December 2014.[8] The last CRJ aircraft was phased out in 2017.[9]

In 2016, the airline was delegated to kick-start the Indian Government's Regional Connectivity Scheme to connect unserved and under-served airports in the country. The airline hence placed orders for ten ATR 72 aircraft in October 2016.[10]

Alliance Air ATR 72-600 Registered as VT-AIV

Alliance Air began operating its first scheduled international flight from Chennai to Jaffna on 11 November 2019.[11] Alliance Air announced that it had recorded an operating profit for the first time in its history during the 2019-20 fiscal year. The airline made an operating profit of ₹65.09 crore (US$7.8 million), but still ended the period with a net loss of ₹201 crore (US$24 million). The airline stated that it had adopted the new IND AS 116 accounting standard, and would have actually recorded a net profit of ₹37 crore (US$4.4 million) under the previous standard.[12]

Alliance Air's parent company, Air India Limited, was sold to Tata Sons on 8 October 2021.[13][14] However, Alliance Air was not a part of the deal, and was instead transferred to Air India Asset Holdings Limited, a state-owned special purpose vehicle that holds Air India's remaining assets and liabilities. The Economic Times reported that the government also intended to sell Alliance Air and use the proceeds to pay down AIAHL's debt.[15] Alliance Air was valued at around ₹2,000 crore (US$240 million).[16] Alliance Air started functioning independently of Air India on 15 April 2022 and started selling its tickets under the Alliance Air banner.[17][18]

Alliance Air signed an agreement with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to lease two 17-seater Dornier 228 aircraft in September 2021. The first aircraft was delivered to Alliance Air on 7 April 2022.[19] The Dornier 228 had previously only been used by the Indian Armed Forces but was modified by HAL for commercial operations. Alliance Air deployed the aircraft on a new route connecting Dibrugarh, Assam, and Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh, on 12 April 2022, becoming the first airline to use an Indian-made aircraft in civil aviation operations and the first commercial airline in the country to operate the Dornier 228 aircraft.[20]

Alliance Air signed a deal in February 2022 to acquire two ATR 42-600 aircraft for serving challenging airfields in the Himalayas.[21]

Destinations

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Main article: List of Alliance Air destinations

Alliance Air operates to 57 destinations in India as of May 2024. It operates regional services in India through its hubs in Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai.[22] The airline started its first international flight from Chennai to Jaffna on 11 November 2019 but temporarily had to halt operations from Chennai due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The connection was eventually resumed on 12 December 2022.

Fleet

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Alliance Air operates the following aircraft :[23][24][25]

Alliance Air ATR 72-600
Alliance Air fleet
Aircraft In service Orders Passengers Notes
ATR 42-600[26] 2 – 48 –
ATR 72-600[26] 18 – 72 –
Dornier 228 1 1 17 –
Total 21 1 –

Former fleet

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One of the Boeing 737-200s operated by Alliance Air in the past
Aircraft Exit Year Notes
Boeing 737-200[5] 2008 5 Converted into Cargo for Air India Cargo
Bombardier CRJ700[27] 2017 Returned to Lessor
ATR 42-300 2020 Stored

Accidents and Incidents

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On July 17, 2000, Alliance Air Flight 7412, a Boeing 737-200, crashed into a residential area in Patna during its approach, resulting in 60 fatalities, including 5 people on the ground.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Alliance Air (India)". ch-aviation. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  2. ^ "JO 7340.2G Contractions" (PDF). Federal Aviation Administration. 5 January 2017. p. 3-1-17. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d "Alliance Air Annual Report 2021-22" (PDF). Alliance Air Aviation Limited. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 July 2023.
  4. ^ "Central Government notifies M/s Alliance Air Aviation Limited as 'Designated Indian Carrier' under Central Sales Tax Act". 21 July 2023.
  5. ^ a b c "Alliance Air" (PDF). Flight International. March 2002. p. 71. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  6. ^ Haridas, Neena (17 July 2000). "Plane had met with an accident before". Rediff.com. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  7. ^ "Air India to dry lease eight 72-seater ATR aircraft to Alliance Air". The Economic Times. 18 November 2013. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  8. ^ "Alliance Air introduces its first ATR 72-600". ATR aircraft.com. 16 December 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  9. ^ "India's Alliance Air ends CRJ-700 operations". Ch.Aviation. 15 January 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  10. ^ "Express exclusive: Air India firms up orders for 10 ATR-72 planes". The New Indian Express. 26 October 2016. Archived from the original on 26 October 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  11. ^ Ayyappan, V. (4 November 2019). "Alliance Air to start Chennai- Jaffna commercial flights on Nov 11". The Times of India. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  12. ^ Mishra, Mihir. "Alliance Air reports operating profit for the first time in FY20; net loss at Rs 201 crore". The Economic Times. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  13. ^ "Air India: Struggling national carrier sold to Tata Sons". BBC News. 8 October 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  14. ^ "Air India acquisition: What Tatas will get - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  15. ^ "Another smaller government-owned airline to go under hammer". Times Now. 10 October 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  16. ^ Mishra, Mihir. "After Air India, government set to sell Alliance Air under asset-disposal programme". The Economic Times. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  17. ^ "Alliance Air no longer subsidiary of Air India; moves to own website, flight code". Hindustan Times. 15 April 2022. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  18. ^ "Alliance Air breaks free from Air India". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  19. ^ Saha, Poulomi (7 April 2022). "First India-made Dornier 228 aircraft delivered to Alliance Air". India Today. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  20. ^ "Alliance Air to launch Dornier plane on Dibrugarh-Pasighat route on Tuesday". mint. 11 April 2022. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  21. ^ "Alliance Air to connect challenging airfields of the Himalayas with two brand new ATR 42-600". ATR aircraft.com. 15 February 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  22. ^ "Alliance Air". Air India. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
  23. ^ "Global Airline Guide 2019 (Part One)". Airliner World. November 2019: 16.
  24. ^ "Fleet Details". Air India. Archived from the original on 27 February 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  25. ^ Flightradar24. "Live Flight Tracker - Real-Time Flight Tracker Map". Flightradar24. Retrieved 15 April 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  26. ^ a b "Alliance bolsters ATR fleet". Airliner World (273): 17. April 2022.
  27. ^ "India's Alliance Air ends CRJ-700 operations". ch-aviation. 15 January 2017. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
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