Tamil Nadu - Madurai

Paramount Airways to hire 300 employees

MADURAI: Despite the global economic crisis that saw major airline players opting for austerity measures including lay offs, Madurai-based Paramount Airways has planned to hire at least 300 employees by 2009.

Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, its Managing Director M. Thiagarajan said that he was planning to expand its operation into the north to make the airways a national player by 2010. “When we started our operations three years back, we wanted to saturate south India and today have 26 per cent market share (in southern States),” he said.

The airways recently launched its operation in western region by operating flights to Ahmedabad, Goa and Pune.

Stating that the Government of India had a regulation to allow airline players to operate international flights only after five years of domestic operations, Mr. Thiagarajan said that post-2010, his fleet could fly abroad.

On the success of Paramount Airways amid crisis faced by other players, Mr. Thiagarajan, said that while others were betting on low cost carriers, Paramount Airways believed in all business class flights offering high-value service that wooed discerning passengers. Besides, it operated Embraer aircraft as against others operating bigger aircraft and saved huge sums of money as no landing and parking fee is levied by airports for small aircraft. Lower maintenance cost for Embraer aircraft that attracted lower sale tax on air turbine fuel (ATF) helped in lesser operational cost, he added.

Responding to a query, Mr. Thiagarajan said that he was contemplating to passing on the benefit of lowered ATF price to passengers. However, the appreciation of US dollar value against Rupee (from Rs. 39 to Rs. 51) had taken a toll on the operational expenses. Right from cost of spares, maintenance and salaries were paid in US dollars, he said.

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