Hyderabad: Air Costa has canceled all its flights owing to problem with its aircraft lessors. Air Costa is a regional airline operating in south India. The airline said flights will restart soon. “Air Costa has suspended its operation of all 24 flights only for today i.e. 4 August. Tomorrow i.e. on 5 August, we will start our operations as scheduled,” an Air Costa spokesperson said.

Recently, another south India-based airline Air Pegasus canceled its services in July. These two instances have triggered concerns over the financial viability of regional airlines. Air Costa further said that it’s resolving the issues with lessors.

“Currently, we are operating with three Embraer E190s and simultaneously, other developments about inducting new aircraft as well as a pan-India licence are in process. We are very positive about our operations and future expansions. There are absolutely no issues regarding salaries in Air Costa. We have also taken care of the passengers scheduled to fly today,” said the spokesperson.

Vijayawada-based construction firm LEPL Group has promoted Air Costa, which is planning to fly to New Delhi, Bhubaneswar, Varanasi and Pune . As the new civil aviation policy cleared on 15 July, the Centre is upbeat on regional connectivity.

The boost in domestic aviation will take it to the masses. Aviation industry experts say that any new airline may not be able to make a profit overnight. New airlines have to create a network on the potential routes. MDLR Airlines Pvt. Ltd is the only regional carrier that started operations in 2007, stopped flying on 1 November 2009.

The boost in domestic aviation will take it to the masses. Aviation industry experts say that any new airline may not be able to make a profit overnight. New airlines have to create a network on the potential routes. MDLR Airlines Pvt. Ltd is the only regional carrier that started operations in 2007, stopped flying on 1 November 2009.

Barring MDLR Airlines, Star Aviation Pvt. Ltd, ZAV Airways Pvt. Ltd, Jagson Airlines Ltd and King Air Pvt. Ltd have been licensed to fly as regional carriers, but none of them could launch because of high jet fuel prices and the economic slowdown of 2008.