Pratt & Whitney Canada inks deal with FLY91 for engine maintenance

Co-founded by erstwhile Kingfisher Airlines senior executive Manoj Chacko, the airline has been mandated to fly to and from Sindhudurg, Jalgaon and Nanded in Maharashtra, and Agatti in Lakshadweep, along with other business and leisure destinations such as Bengaluru, Goa, Hyderabad and Pune.

Global aerospace major Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) said on Thursday, March 28, that it has signed a multi-year engine services agreement with FLY91 for the maintenance, repair and overhaul of the PW127M engines.

FLY91 is India's latest airline based out of Goa and connects tier 2 and tier 3 cities.

Manoj Chacko, MD and CEO of FLY91 said, "The agreement with Pratt & Whitney Canada is a significant step in assuring we can provide our customers with dependable regional air travel from our base at Goa’s Manohar International Airport. We strongly believe that our ATR aircraft powered by P&WC’s PW127M engines will help us to achieve scalable air transportation services to build India’s regional connectivity."

Irene Makris, Vice President, Customer Service, at Pratt & Whitney Canada, said, "The ability of a commercial aircraft to take off as scheduled often depends on the readiness and reliability of its engines. We have 40 years of experience in the maintenance of the PW100 engine family and we are confident we can help FLY91 enjoy excellent dispatch reliability for its ATR 72-600 fleet and fully meet passenger expectations."

Co-founded by erstwhile Kingfisher Airlines senior executive Manoj Chacko, the venture, Just Udo Aviation Private Ltd, secured the Union Civil Aviation Ministry's nod in April last year to start the airline under the brand name FLY91. The airline received its air operator permit from aviation regulator DGCA on March 6, 2024.

FLY91 recently commenced operations and currently has two ATR 72-600 in its fleet. It will be the first regional carrier to have been based out of the new Manohar Parrikar International Airport at Mopa in Goa. The startup carrier has already been allocated its first set of routes under the 5.0 phase of the government's Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS), UDAN.

As part of this, the carrier with the IC code has been mandated to fly to and from Sindhudurg, Jalgaon and Nanded in Maharashtra, and Agatti in Lakshadweep, along with other business and leisure destinations such as Bengaluru, Goa, Hyderabad and Pune.

‍The airline said it received its first ATR 72-600, one of the two aircraft leased from Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, which flew in from Hyderabad to be part of the regional airline’s fleet. In the long term, the airline plans to connect over 50 Indian cities in the next five years and induct a total of 30 aircraft.

Source: CNBC TV18