Alliance Air (India)

History

Alliance Air was founded in April 1996 as a wholly owned subsidiary of the state-owned Indian Airlines. The parent company wet-leased 12 Boeing 737 aircraft to Alliance Air. Alliance Air began its operations on 15 April 1996. It served as a low-cost feeder airline for Indian Airlines, providing connections to the latter's hubs from smaller cities across the country. On 1 April 1997, the flight operations of Vayudoot, which had earlier merged with Indian Airlines in 1993, was transferred to Alliance Air. In 2002, the airline connected to 44 destinations in India utilising a fleet of 11 Boeing 737-200s.

In 2007, the Government of India announced the merger of Indian Airlines with Air India. Alliance Air became a subsidiary of Air India after the merger was completed in 2011, and was rebranded as "Air India Regional". In November 2013, Air India announced that it would dry lease eight ATR 72 aircraft to replace Alliance Air's ageing fleet of CRJ700 aircraft. The airline inducted its first ATR 72-600 aircraft in to its fleet in December 2014, and the last CRJ700 aircraft was phased out in 2017. In 2016, the airline was delegated to kick-start the Indian Government's UDAN regional connectivity scheme to connect unserved and under-served airports in the country, and the airline placed orders for ten ATR 72 aircraft in October 2016. It began operating its first and only scheduled international flight from Chennai to Jaffna on 11 November 2019. The airline recorded an operating profit for the first time during the 2019–20 fiscal year, after it declared an operating profit of .

Air India was sold to Tata Sons on 8 October 2021. However, Alliance Air was not a part of the deal, and was instead transferred to AI Assets Holding Limited, a state-owned special purpose vehicle that held Air India's remaining assets and liabilities. Alliance Air was valued at around , and it was reported at the time that the government also intended to sell the airline in the future and use the proceeds to pay down the remaining debt. It started functioning independent of Air India on 15 April 2022 and reverted to its Alliance Air name. In September 2021, the airline signed an agreement with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to lease two 17-seater Dornier 228 aircraft, and the first aircraft was delivered on 7 April 2022. The Dornier 228, which had previously only been used by the Indian Armed Forces, was modified by the HAL for commercial operations, and on 12 April 2022, Alliance Air became the first airline to use an Indian-made aircraft in civil aviation operations. In February 2022, the airline signed a deal to acquire two ATR 42 aircraft for serving smaller airfields in the Himalayan region.

Destinations

Main article: List of Alliance Air destinations

, Alliance Air operates to 57 destinations in India from its hubs at It operates regional services in India through its hubs Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Mumbai. The airline started its first international flight from Chennai to Jaffna on 11 November 2019, which was paused in 2020, before resuming in July 2023, and was eventually terminated in November 2024.

Fleet

, Alliance Air operates the following aircraft:

Former fleet

Accidents and incidents

On 17 July 2000, Alliance Air Flight 7412, a Boeing 737-200, crashed into a residential area during its approach to the Patna Airport, resulting in 60 fatalities, including five people on the ground.

References

References

1. "Alliance Air (India)". ch-aviation.
2. (5 January 2017). "JO 7340.2G Contractions". [[Federal Aviation Administration]].
3. "Alliance Air Annual Report 2021-22". Alliance Air.
4. (March 2002). "Alliance Air". Flight Global.
5. Haridas, Neena. (17 July 2000). "Plane had met with an accident before". [[Rediff.com]].
6. (15 April 2023). "Alliance Air Marks 27th Anniversary Since its First Flight". Aviation A2Z.
7. (24 August 2007). "Legal Process for merger of Air India and Indian Airlines completed". [[Press Information Bureau]].
8. (3 May 2016). "Air India eyes Star Alliance's CPM for its two subsidiaries". Ch-aviation.
9. (18 November 2013). "Air India to dry lease eight 72-seater ATR aircraft to Alliance Air". [[The Economic Times]].
10. (16 December 2014). "Alliance Air introduces its first ATR 72-600". ATR aircraft.
11. (15 January 2017). "India's Alliance Air ends CRJ-700 operations". Ch-aviation.
12. (26 October 2016). "Air India firms up orders for 10 ATR-72 planes". [[The New Indian Express]].
13. (4 November 2019). "Alliance Air to start Chennai- Jaffna commercial flights on Nov 11". [[The Times of India]].
14. Mishra, Mihir. (8 October 2021). "Alliance Air reports operating profit for the first time in FY20; net loss at Rs 201 crore". [[The Economic Times]].
15. (8 October 2021). "Air India: Struggling national carrier sold to Tata Sons". [[BBC News]].
16. (8 October 2021). "Air India acquisition: What Tatas will get". [[The Times of India]].
17. (21 July 2023). "Central Government notifies M/s Alliance Air Aviation Limited as 'Designated Indian Carrier' under Central Sales Tax Act". Tax Scan.
18. "After Air India, government set to sell Alliance Air under asset-disposal programme". [[The Economic Times]].
19. (10 October 2021). "Another smaller government-owned airline to go under hammer". [[Times Now]].
20. (15 April 2022). "Alliance Air no longer subsidiary of Air India; moves to own website, flight code". [[The Hindustan Times]].
21. "Alliance Air breaks free from Air India". [[The New Indian Express]].
22. Saha, Poulomi. (7 April 2022). "First India-made Dornier 228 aircraft delivered to Alliance Air". [[India Today]].
23. (11 April 2022). "Alliance Air to launch Dornier plane on Dibrugarh-Pasighat route on Tuesday". [[Live Mint]].
24. (15 February 2022). "Alliance Air to connect challenging airfields of the Himalayas with two brand new ATR 42-600". ATR aircraft.
25. "Alliance Air". Alliance Air.
26. (11 November 2019). "Alliance Air maiden overseas flight commence operations". [[Live Mint]].
27. (17 July 2023). "Alliance Air commences daily flights between Chennai & Jaffna". [[The Economic Times]].
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29. (September 2025). "Global Airline Guide 2025 - Alliance Air".
30. (April 2022). "Alliance bolsters ATR fleet". Airliner World.
31. (15 January 2017). "India's Alliance Air ends CRJ-700 operations". Ch-aviation.
32. "Alliance Air Flight 7412".