ModiLuft

Last updated

Modiluft
Modiluft1.png
IATA ICAO Callsign
HT [1]
M9 [2] [3] [4] [5] 		MODMODILUFT
Founded14 March 1984 (1984-03-14)
Commenced operations
  • 17 February 1993 (1993-02-17)
    (as MG Express)
  • 12 April 1995 (1995-04-12)
    (as ModiLuft)
Ceased operations1996 (1996)
Hubs Indira Gandhi International Airport
Parent company
Headquarters Delhi
Key people
  • S. K. Modi (Chairman)
  • Ashotosh Dyal Sharma

ModiLuft was a private airline based in Delhi, India. It operated on domestic routes until it shut down in 1996. It maintained high standards in flight safety, ground maintenance, and on-time performance owing to support from Lufthansa. ModiLuft's aircraft were configured in First, Business and Economy Class, making it the only private airline in India during its time to fly a three class configuration on domestic routes. It used Boeing 737-200 aircraft leased from Lufthansa and had an incident-free track record of flying.

Contents

History

ModiLuft's livery was similar to that of Lufthansa. ModiLuft Boeing 737-200 Martin.jpg
ModiLuft's livery was similar to that of Lufthansa.

ModiLuft was among the first of India's first post-deregulation airlines, launched in April 1993 by the Indian industrialist S. K. Modi, in technical partnership with the German flag carrier Lufthansa. [6] The German airline provided pilots and trained ModiLuft's Indian staff including pilots, cabin crew, mechanics, and city and ground passenger handling staff. Lufthansa Technik provided maintenance, overhaul, and spares support. [7] The airline project, started in February 1993 by Modi, Ashutosh Dayal Sharma, Yash Kohli, and Kanwar K. S. Jamwal, first flew from New Delhi to Mumbai on 5 May 1993. The airline commenced operations within three months of its conception. Kanwar K. S. Jamwal, General Manager Projects, was responsible for setting up the airline and its operations and put together a team of Indian and German engineers and pilots. Capt. R L. Kapur was the Managing Director, and Wing. Cdr. S. Raj (Retd.) Capt. Manoj Airon along with a team of able airline experts, R. K. Anand and Kavita Batra, helped in meeting the aviation industry standards and in conforming to the Indian Aircraft Rules set by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. The first two batches of the cabin crew were trained at Lufthansa's flight crew training facility at Frankfurt. Modiluft was the only airline to achieve an average aircraft utilisation of a minimum 12 hours per day and an on-time departure CSAT score of 98.8% in India.

The two companies parted ways after the Indian partner accused Lufthansa of not abiding by its funding commitment. In turn, the German airline alleged that ModiLuft had defaulted on lease payments for the four Lufthansa aircraft. The relationship between the two parties soured in mid-1996 after Modi began putting pressure on Lufthansa to take a stake of up to 40 per cent in the Indian carrier. [8] In May 1996, Lufthansa announced that they had decided to terminate their agreement with ModiLuft. [9] The aircraft belonging to Lufthansa were grounded due to the litigation and ModiLuft acquired Boeing 737-400 aircraft from Air UK as replacements. The future of ModiLuft, however, was already sealed and the airline ceased operations in 1996.

ModiLuft eventually returned Lufthansa's aircraft by 30 September 1997 as part of an out-of-court settlement. [10] [11] The airline ownership changed hands due to lack of funds and was renamed Royal Airways, an airline that never got off the ground. ModiLuft's Air operator's certificate (AOC) had not lapsed and was eventually used by a different set of promoters for the Low-cost carrier SpiceJet.

Destinations

Flag of India.svg  India

Historical fleet

Related Research Articles

Deutsche Lufthansa AG / Lufthansa German Airlines, commonly shortened to Lufthansa, serves as the flag carrier of Germany. When combined with its subsidiaries, it stands as the second-largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried, after the ultra low-cost carrier Ryanair, largest in Europe and fourth largest in the world by revenue. Lufthansa is also one of the five founding members of Star Alliance, which is the world's largest airline alliance, formed in 1997.

Ariana Afghan Airlines Co. Ltd., also known simply as Ariana, is the flag carrier and largest airline of Afghanistan. Founded in 1955, Ariana is the oldest airline in the country and is state owned. The company has its main base at Kabul International Airport, from which it operates domestic flights and international connections to destinations in China, India, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. The carrier is headquartered in Shāre Naw district, Kabul. Ariana Afghan Airlines has been on the list of air carriers banned in the European Union since October 2006.

Egyptair is the state-owned flag carrier of Egypt. The airline is headquartered at Cairo International Airport, its main hub, operating scheduled passenger and freight services to 81 destinations in Africa, Europe, Asia, and The Americas. Egyptair is a member of Star Alliance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian Airlines</span> Division of Air India Limited

Indian Airlines was a state-owned airline in India that later became a division of Air India Limited before ultimately ceasing operations. It was based in Delhi and focused primarily on domestic routes, along with several international services to neighbouring countries in Asia and limited flights to the Middle East and South-East Asia. It was a division of Air India Limited after the merger of eight pre-Independence domestic airlines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Air Algérie</span> Flag carrier of Algeria

Air Algérie SpA is the flag carrier of Algeria, with its head office in the Immeuble El-Djazair in Algiers. With flights operating from Houari Boumedienne Airport, Air Algérie operates scheduled international services to 39 destinations in 28 countries in Europe, North America, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, as well as domestic services to 32 airports. As of December 2013, Air Algérie was 100% owned by the Government of Algeria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag carrier</span> Transport company with preferential status

A flag carrier is a transport company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given sovereign state, enjoys preferential rights or privileges accorded by the government for international operations.

Jet Airways (India) Limited, trading as Jet Airways, was an Indian airline based in Delhi, with a training and developmental centre in Mumbai. Incorporated in April 1992 as a limited liability company, the airline began operations as an air taxi operator in 1993. It began full-fledged operations in 1995 with international flights added in 2004. The airline went public in 2005 and in 2007, when it acquired Air Sahara. It was the first and only privately owned Indian airline before the founding of Vistara in 2015. The airline is expected to re-commence its flight operations by the end of 2023, making it the first Indian airline to be revived after ceasing operations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East-West Airlines (India)</span> Indian private airline

In 1990-91 the entry of private airlines began, after the de-regulation of the Indian Civil Aviation sector. Private airlines were given permission to operate charter and non-scheduled services under the ‘Air Taxi’ Scheme. East West Airlines, head-quartered in Trivandrum was the first national level private airline in India to operate after almost 37 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PrivatAir</span> Defunct Swiss airline

Privatair SA was a Swiss airline headquartered in Meyrin, which operated business jets as well as scheduled services on behalf of major airlines. In addition the company operated crew and pilot training facilities. PrivatAir SA was a registered air carrier with two air operator's certificates, in Switzerland and through its subsidiary PrivatAir GmbH in Germany. On 5 December 2018, PrivatAir filed for insolvency and ceased operations.

Air India Express is an Indian low-cost airline and a wholly owned subsidiary of Indian flag carrier airline Air India. Currently it is headquartered in Kochi, Kerala which will be shifted to Gurgaon, Haryana in coming months. It operates more than 800 flights per week to 44 destinations including the Middle East and Southeast Asia. It has secondary hubs in Thiruvananthapuram, Kannur, Tiruchirappalli, Kozhikode, Mangaluru, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, and Mumbai.

SpiceJet is an Indian low-cost airline headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana. As of November 2023, it is the fourth largest airline in India by number of domestic passengers carried, with a market share of 6.2% and connects 73 destinations, including 60 Indian and 13 international from its bases at Delhi and Hyderabad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian Airlines Flight 427</span> 1993 aircraft hijacking

Indian Airlines Flight 427, a domestic passenger flight of the Indian Airlines between Srinagar Airport and the Delhi-Indira Gandhi International Airport, was involved in an aircraft hijacking that took place in India between 24 and 25 April 1993. Commandos from the National Security Guard (NSG) rescued all 141 hostages of the Indian Airlines Boeing 737, on the ground at Amritsar airport. The lone hijacker, Mohammad Yousuf, was killed within 5 minutes of commandos entering the plane, before he could react and harm any of the hostages. The rescue was code-named Operation Ashwamedh.

Air India is the flag carrier airline of India. It is owned by Air India Limited, a Tata Group enterprise and operates a fleet of Airbus and Boeing aircraft serving 102 domestic and international destinations. It is headquartered in Gurugram. The airline has its main hub at Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi and secondary hub at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Mumbai alongside several focus cities across India. As of July 2023, the airline is the second-largest airline in India in terms of passengers carried, after IndiGo. Air India became the 27th member of Star Alliance on 11 July 2014.

Damania Airways was an Indian airline headquartered in Mumbai that operated from 1993 to 1997. It was founded by brothers Parvez and Vispi Damania. Parvez later played a vital role for Sahara India Pariwar in their venture Air Sahara and then went on to become the Executive Director of Kingfisher Airlines. Vispi later became the VP of Finance at Kingfisher Airlines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vistara</span> Indian airline

Tata SIA Airlines Limited, operating as Vistara, is an Indian full-service airline, based in Gurugram, with its hub at Indira Gandhi International Airport. The carrier, a joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, commenced operations on 9 January 2015 with its inaugural flight between Delhi and Mumbai. The airline had carried more than two million passengers by June 2016 and as of April 2023, has a 8.7% share of the domestic carrier market, making it the 2nd largest domestic airline, behind IndiGo. The airline serves 50 destinations with a fleet of Airbus A320neo, Airbus A321neo and Boeing 787-9 aircraft.

Quikjet Cargo Airlines Pvt. Ltd., branded as Quikjet Airlines, is an all-cargo airline based in Bangalore, India. In December 2022, Quikjet resumed operations with a new AOC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Civil aviation in India</span>

Civil aviation in India, the world's third-largest civil aviation market as of 2020, traces its origin back to 1911, when the first commercial civil aviation flight took off from a polo ground in Allahabad carrying mail across the Yamuna river to Naini.

Many aviation-related events took place in 2020. The aviation industry was impacted by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

References

  1. ↑ Planespotters.net, Modiluft. Retrieved 7 August 2017
  2. ↑ Flightglobal archive Flight International, 3-9 April 1996. Retrieved 7 August 2017
  3. ↑ Rzjets.net, Modiluft. Retrieved 7 August 2017
  4. ↑ Airframes.org, Modiluft. Retrieved 7 August 2017
  5. ↑ Klee, Ulrich (1996). JP airline-fleets International (96/97 ed.). Switzerland: Bucher & Co. Publikationen. p. 591. ISBN   3857581301.
  6. ↑ "Panel approves ModiLuft aircraft import plan". Financial Express. 3 March 2000. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  7. ↑ "Lufthansa forms ModiLuft in India". Flightglobal.com. 24 March 1993. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  8. ↑ "Lufthansa, Modiluft Patch Up". Business Standard. 21 August 1997. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  9. ↑ "Lufthansa ends ModiLuft partnership". Cargo News Asia. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  10. ↑ "Modiluft To Return Lufthansa Aircraft By September 30". Business Standard. 4 September 1997. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  11. ↑ "Modiluft, Lufthansa cease-fire". Financial Express. 20 August 1997. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.