Dr Mohammed Ali (Chairman), Mrs Isha Ali (Vice Chairman)
TruJet was an Indian regional airline based at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad. The airline commenced operations in July 2015 and ceased all operations in February 2022. This is not to be confused with TruJet Media International which is based in London, England.
History
Turbo Megha Airways Private Limited was incorporated on March 14, 2013 with Ram Charan and Vankayalapati Umesh as promoters,[5] with the backing of 20 investors.[6] The company planned to operate ATR aircraft primarily aimed at pilgrims and middle class travellers to destinations like Tirupati.[7]
The airline obtained a No Objection Certificate from the Ministry of Civil Aviation on 21 July 2014.[8]
In August 2014, the promoters initiated negotiations to sell a majority stake in the airline to Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Limited (MEIL) in order to fund their operations.[9]
MEIL holds 90 per cent stake in the airline.[10] TruJet has "temporarily" suspended its flight operations until further notice.[11]
The airline adopted the brand name TruJet in February 2015.[12][13]
TruJet received its air operator's certificate for regional operations from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation on 7 July 2015.[14] The airline commenced operations on 12 July with a flight from its Hyderabad hub to Tirupati.[15][7]
The airline's Air Operators Permit (AOP) was changed to the scheduled commuter operator (SCO) category by the DGCA in May 2017, allowing the carrier to operate flights to other regions of India under the government's UDAN Regional Connectivity Scheme.[16]
From 12 July 2020, five out of seven ATR aircraft operated by TruJet were grounded by lessors due unpaid dues.[17]
On 1 April 2021, Trujet announced that US firm Interups had purchased a 49% stake in the company. Laxmi Prasad, the chairman of Interups stated in an interview to the online business site Moneycontrol “We plan to expand services to the length and breadth of the country, overseas, and get into segments such as cargo, private charters, and helicopter ambulance services. We will be operating at full scale.”[18]
On 15 February 2022, TruJet ceased all operations owing to financial crisis.[19]
In May 2022, it was announced the Nagpur-headquartered, We Indian Nationals Aviation Private Limited (Winair) had acquired a 79% stake in Trujet.[20]
In June 2023, US-based aviation company NS Aviation acquired an 85 per cent stake in the airline and has plans to revive the airline with 100 A320 Neo aircraft including ten more Airbus cargo aircraft for international cargo operations.
The new Investors Dr Mohammed Ali and Ms Isha Ali, both happen to be associated with Aviation Industry for the past couple of decades. The Airline in its new avatar is slated to start operations by end 2023. Initially, the airline plans to focus on domestic operations, with key metropolitan cities such as Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata and Hyderabad as primary destinations, Subsequently piggyback riding on Trujet's AOP, the launch of International operations will be possible without waiting for the mandatory 5 yrs / 3 yrs of operations. [21]
Destinations
TruJet used to operate from the following destinations as of June 2021.[22][23]
