Paramount on the expansion trail in 2009
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Paramount Airways, the Chennai-basedall-business class airline, has outlined some ambitious expansion plans for2009, according to a Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) report.
Despite the premium carrier last yearrecording a mere 1.1% increase in passenger numbers to 630,000, Paramount hasreiterated plans to expand across India. The carrier, which has a strongnetwork in southern India, will continue its expansion in western India untilmid-2009 and then “foray into the northern market”, the report said. Paramountcurrently operates 1,600 services per month, which will rise to 2,200 in thenext six months.
The airline, which held a 1.5% market sharein 2008, has been buoyed by rival airlines trimmed their capacity due tomounting losses, the CAPA report said.
Paramount has 20 Embraer regional jetsscheduled for delivery over the next two years, and plans to hire 500 pilotsand 600 cabin crew in the next two years as it targets a nationwide presenceand a five-fold increase in fleet size by 2011. The carrier also holdsinternational ambitions, confirming last month that it is in “advanced talks”with Airbus and Boeing to order 7-10 A350s or B787s to launch internationalservices in 2012-13.
Paramount currently operates from Chennai to 11 Indiancities, including Coimbatore, Madurai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Goa and Pune.
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