The state government of Kerala has given the go-ahead for plans to launch India’s first co-operative airline.
Services would be operated by the Kerala Civil Aviation Development Cooperative Society, headquartered at Nedumbassery in Kochi.
Initial plans will see the airline lease two 72-seater aircraft, connecting Kerala with Kozhikode, Kannur, Mangaluru, Bengaluru, Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai. The fleet is expected to grow to four and eventually six aircraft.
Approval was announced by the state’s chief minister V D Satheesan at the silver jubilee celebrations of the Calicut City Service Cooperative Society. He said the project would show the potential of the state’s co-op sector to expand into new areas of economic activity.
The airline co-op will be led by C N Vijayakrishnan, chair of MVR Cancer Centre and Research Institute, added Satheesan. the minister said a team associated with the success of the cancer centre and with the Calicut City Service Cooperative Society will also work on the project.
The state government will partner on the project, with Satheesan serving as chair and the state cooperative minister as vice-chair.
Around 200 co-ops are prepared to invest Rs 2 crore each as equity shares, raising a total of Rs 400 crore, it has been reported.
Further details of the airline co-op are yet to emerge.
The chief minister said the co-op movement is a key pillar of the Keralan economy, and in another anouncement, pledged a government guarantee for deposits made by people in the co-operative sector. Depositors in co-op banks should receive the same assurance as those investing in nationalised and scheduled banks, he added.
Satheesan congratulated the Calicut City Service Cooperative Society for its initiatives in charity and various development activities.
