[mukeshgoel]

Shankh Air gets ready for take off

India's newest airline, Shankh Air, has received approval from the Union Civil Aviation Ministry and is set to begin operations. Owned by Shankh Aviation Private Limited, the airline has been granted a three-year No Objection Certificate (NOC).

Though the company is still awaiting a final clearance from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), it has ambitious plans to operate from major cities in Uttar Pradesh, including Varanasi, Agra, and Gorakhpur.

Shankh Air will be the first scheduled airline to originate from Uttar Pradesh, with major hubs in Lucknow and Noida. According to its official website, the airline will focus on both inter- and intra-state routes, prioritising cities with high demand but limited direct flight options.



Source

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[Rahul Bhalgat]

Interesting.

Who are the promoters of this airline and what is their background? Will this airline focuss on shorter routes / smaller planes?

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by Rahul Bhalgat

Who are the promoters of this airline and what is their background?

Very suspicious. Shankh Air website has little or no information.The promoter is the guy on the left (Sharvan K.Vishwakarma):



Can't find much about him on the internet. He seems to be a distributor/supplier of construction material (cement, steel, bricks, sand etc)

Suspicious because India has a history of airline promoters taking massive loans from banks, siphoning off the funds and defaulting on payments (Eg: Kingfisher, Jet Airways etc)

[GTO]

That logo on the aircraft looks like something a 9th-grader pulled off in free photo-editing software. And when the website is full of language errors, it raises alarm bells in my head:

Shankh Air will be the first Schedule airline to launch from the state of Uttar Pradesh

We start our Journey a modern fleet of Narrow Body New generation Boeing 737-800NG aircrafts

We definitely love to hear from you

The meal picture on their homepage is taken from here.

Which airline website has "Powered by GoDaddy" on the footer . Indian Skies definitely need more competition in an emerging duopoly, but I don't think Shankh Air is it.

[mukeshgoel]

Originally Posted by GTO

That logo on the aircraft looks like something a 9th-grader pulled off in free photo-editing software.

Absolutely. Even the text is not in a straight line and not aligned to windows.

[V.Narayan]

I can bet my middle name this airline is a front for some big politico and his coloured funds. The construction industry in U.P. is a byword for political hand-in-glove. Even though airlines are very difficult to run, very very difficult to turn a profit, politicians seem to adore them. They think it is glamourous or God alone knows what else.

Looks risky to me. I would not be eager to fly in their aircraft for the first few years. These kinds of bozo's getting the license to fly is a reflection on the DGCA and its opaque workings.

We've all seen how poorly Spicejet manages its show. This sounds like a whopping 2 degrees below that.

[sai_ace]

On another note, this name wont 'fly' in Tamil Nadu - pun intended. Shankh - or 'Sangu' the term that we use colloquially here in TN refers to the act of blowing a conch during funeral processions. Now go figure!

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

These kinds of bozo's getting the license to fly is a reflection on the DGCA and its opaque workings.

Anybody with money can apply for a license? Don't they have any minimum technical or business or professional requirements from promoters?

For eg, something like "co-founder or directors have to be from airlines or hospitality or a reputed service industry"

How can aircraft safety be assured if a random people are allowed to start an airline? Are safety processes and protocols enough to ensure safety?

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by SmartCat

Anybody with money can apply for a license? Don't they have any minimum technical or business or professional minimum requirements from promoters?

For eg, something like "co-founder or directors have to be from airlines or hospitality or a reputed service industry"

How can aircraft safety be assured if a random people are allowed to start an airline? Are safety processes and protocols enough to ensure safety?

Many rules are in place that I have struggled with in my past. But exceptions or camouflaging happens when expedient. Seen it often. Mr. Sharvan does not strike me as one with an iota of experience in aviation. Never even heard of him. Guaranteed there is a big political angle here.

[DicKy]

Originally Posted by sai_ace

On another note, this name wont 'fly' in Tamil Nadu - pun intended. Shankh - or 'Sangu' the term that we use colloquially here in TN refers to the act of blowing a conch during funeral processions. Now go figure!

offtopic.

Erm... Isn't the conch itself called as Shankh? Didn't know it was 'act of blowing conch during funeral' in Tamil.

[callvvijay]

Originally Posted by sai_ace

On another note, this name wont 'fly' in Tamil Nadu - pun intended. Shankh - or 'Sangu' the term that we use colloquially here in TN refers to the act of blowing a conch during funeral processions. Now go figure!

Good one! But, I was assuming that the promoters have come up with this name as a wordplay for "Shankar" - God Shiva!

[Fuldagap]

I don't know why, but as soon i read this here at tbhp, it reminded me of the Rs700 smart phone launched many years back by a Noida guy. It was even campaigned by some ministers. People got duped of a lot of money and nobody even cares or remembers now.

The pic here of the aircraft is just a rendered image that too very poorly done.
The website seems to be quite dubious. With connections and money and paid marketing, anything is achievable.

[DigitalOne]

Originally Posted by SmartCat

Anybody with money can apply for a license?...
How can aircraft safety be assured if a random people are allowed to start an airline? Are safety processes and protocols enough to ensure safety?

As I understand, union civil aviation ministry approval is different from the DGCA approval, which is much more harder to get, and the one really required to start an airline.

This is just some random guy getting an (in a real sense, irrelevant) approval from Civil Aviation ministry, just to attain 10 minutes of fame.

Edit: This website makes it clear what needs to be done after NOC to get the final DGCA approval

An NOC from the ministry is just the starting point. Between now and securing a license (an Air Operators Permit), Shankh Air needs to induct aircraft, hire employees, undergo security background checks for key personnel, write up manuals, conduct a bunch of proving flights, and so on before it gets the DGCA’s Air Operator Permit. Then, it needs slots for operating on various routes and create a labyrinth of IT systems. The airline intends to launch in late 2024, but 2025 is going to be a more workable target.

[PreludeSH]

Originally Posted by sai_ace

On another note, this name wont 'fly' in Tamil Nadu - pun intended. Shankh - or 'Sangu' the term that we use colloquially here in TN refers to the act of blowing a conch during funeral processions. Now go figure!

Shankh (Shankha in kannada) is Conch. Its blown during pujas. Shankh could also mean doubting in Hindi. Dont think people will confuse with that too.

[saket77]

Originally Posted by PreludeSH

Shankh (Shankha in kannada) is Conch. Its blown during pujas. Shankh could also mean doubting in Hindi. Dont think people will confuse with that too.

OT but Shankh in Hindi is also conch and it is considered very auspicious.
On the other hand, 'shanka' is doubt in Hindi (with a softer sounding 'k'). Pronunciations are quite different for the two.