Regional carrier Fly91 has unveiled a five-year expansion plan to grow its fleet from six ATR aircraft to more than 50, expand its network across smaller towns and aspire to become India's largest standalone regional airline.
"Our five-year plan is that we intend to get to at least 50 destinations across the country," Manoj Chacko, managing director and chief executive officer of Fly91, told Mint.
An ATR plane is a twin-engine turboprop regional airliner built by the France-headquartered aircraft manufacturer ATR. For context, Just Udo Aviation Pvt. Ltd, which runs FLY91, ended FY25 with about 127 crore in revenue and a loss of 66 crore.
Fly91 currently operates around 280 weekly flights, of which about 98 are under the government's regional connectivity scheme. As the airline expands, it plans to increasingly rely on commercially sustainable routes connecting smaller towns with larger cities rather than government-supported operations.
Despite the aggressive targets, Chacko said the airline is focused on measured expansion rather than chasing rapid growth. "We are playing a Test match and not a T20 game. So a slow, steady and consistent game is what we are playing," he said. The airline is targeting cash break-even by the end of FY27 and operational profitability in FY28, Chacko said.
To fund its expansion, Fly91 has raised ₹250 crore in equity so far and recently completed a convertible funding round of more than ₹60 crore that was oversubscribed by existing investors. Chacko said. The company believes raising capital to lease additional aircraft will not be a constraint as it scales operations.
Fly91 is positioning itself as “a challenger” in India's regional aviation market, where turboprop aircraft serve routes that typically take eight to 12 hours by road or rail but can be completed in less than 90 minutes by air.
He said IndiGo remains the largest player in the regional turboprop segment, while Fly91 has emerged as the second significant operator focused exclusively on connecting smaller cities.
The airline believes its business model also provides greater resilience against fuel price volatility because fuel accounts for only 22-23% of revenue, significantly lower than the 38-40% typically seen at jet operators.
"The recent West Asia crisis reinforced the advantages of our model," Chacko said, adding that the increase in fuel prices had a much smaller impact on Fly91 than on airlines operating narrow-body jets.
For Fly 91, the fuel costs went from 22% to 28% of revenue.
“Because ATR turboprops are smaller than narrow-body jets, operate at lower altitudes and consume less fuel. We estimates that the YoY increase in fuel costs as a percentage of revenue for its airlines generally would be about 6% due to the West Asia crisis,” said Gagan Dixit, aviation analyst at Elara Securities.
The West Asia crisis and the fuel cost increase have led the country's three largest carriers, including IndiGo, Akasa, and Air India Express, to their borrowing limits.
Before launching the airline, the management studied the failures of 24 airlines as well as the operating models of successful low-cost carriers such as IndiGo, Air Arabia, Jazeera Airways, EasyJet, Ryanair and Southwest Airlines.
The airline has outsourced several non-core functions, including IT infrastructure, taxation and finance processes, while maintaining a lean corporate office and avoiding traditional overheads such as airport ticket offices and call centres.
"We are maniacal about our costs. We have built an airline which is very different," Chacko said.
Structural challenges
Even as the government revamps the Udan scheme, Chacko said two structural issues continue to constrain regional aviation. The first is limited slot availability at major airports, making it difficult for regional airlines to connect smaller towns with larger hubs. The second is the reluctance of Indian banks to finance aviation assets and provide working capital to airlines.
Since the launch of the Udan scheme in 2016, India has seen the emergence of regional carriers such as IndiaOne and Star Air.
FLY91 in FY25 received 55% of its revenue from the Udan scheme.
Chacko also gave a thumbs up to Adani Group’s plan to explore the possibility of picking a non-controlling stake in regional carriers, but with caveats.
"If a business group wants to enter aviation, I don't think anything should prevent it from doing so," he said. "The key is to ensure there is no conflict of interest. There must be strong governance and complete transparency in areas such as slot allocation and counter availability, so that no airline gains an unfair advantage."
Chacko, along with his co-founder N. Chenna Reddy, owned about a third of the company at the end of March 2025. Other investors include investor Ramesh Damani and Mumbai-based NBFC Authum Investment & Infrastructure Ltd, according to filings with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.