Paramount Airways mulls consolidation

17 May, 2007: Bidding for a pan Indian presence by 2011, South Indian airline Paramount Airways is on a shopping mission. It is learnt that the airline is looking at buying stakes in other airlines. This comes at a time when consolidation is the name of the game in the Indian civil aviation space, which has seen the mergers of national carriers Air India and Indian and private carriers Jet Airways and Air Sahara.

The airline top brass has been quoted as saying that if an opportunity arises, the Coimbatore-based airline is open to acquiring stake in other airlines, provided the synergies and pricing factors are right. Paramount feels that it has the capability to become the most preferred airline in the country by 2011.

With a fleet of five Embraer aircraft and 1,600 flights every month, Paramount has established a leadership role in the south with 26 per cent market share. Post-consolidation, the airline would move into other markets after further consolidating its position in the south. It even plans to add to its fleet as the expansion into the western markets is also being mulled over by year 2008.

A report said that Paramount has placed orders for 15 Brazilian-made Embraer aircraft and five of these are already in operation. The rest are expected in the next three years. Meanwhile, the airline brass has ruled out any plans of going in for planes like the Boeing or the Airbus. It has also opted for night parking in non-metro airports to avail the 50 per cent cut in parking fee to reduce expense.