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NT Bureau
Chennai, Feb 22:

        It's take off time for Madurai-based private carrier Paramount Airways to fly higher and higher in its pursuit to touch the national scene.

        Revealing the ambitious expansion plans to the media, Paramount Airways managing director M Thiagarajan said that after successful flying in the southern States, the airlines would target western sector by operating flights to Mumbai from Madurai and Coimbatore besides Calicut and Bangalooru.

        He expressed hope that the airlines would make its presence on the national air route map by 2009-10.

        The airline is launching an evening flight on the Chennai-Madurai sector from 26 February and has plans to cover Tiruchi soon. Linking Thiruvananthapuram and Hyderabad is also in the agenda.

        On fleet expansion, he said that airways which operated 1,500 flights in different routes, would add 15 more aircraft to its fleet in three years.

        Significantly, the airlines is flying on profit mode within the six months of its operations in different sectors and the customer retention was cent per cent.

        Another redeeming feature is that the airlines enjoyed the highest market share of 24 per cent in the sectors in which it operated.

        He announced a new offer for frequent Business Class fliers. For every four business class tickets, the frequent flier would get a free upgrade to first class on the purchase of the fifth Business Class tickets.

        Thiagarajan said frequent fliers with seven boarding passes would get eighth flight free. If a person travelled in business class five times, he would get sixth flight free of cost.

        Paramount would directly connect Madurai-Bangalore and Madurai-Mumubai by the end of this year, Thiagarajan said.

        On expectations from the Central Government, he said the airlines looked forward to permission of extension of aircraft lease and also bringing ATF fuel under 'Notified Goods'.

        When the ATR aircraft were given four per cent sales tax concession on ATF fuel, there was nothing wrong in extending it to Embraer aircraft which had so many advantages like low cost maintenance. Uniform sales tax would help in level playing and bring down the fares.

        The fourth flight of the Paramount Airways in the Chennai-Madurai sector from 26 Feb would leave Chennai at 4 pm and arrive here at 4.55 pm. In the return direction, it would leave Madurai at 5.20 pm and reach Chennai at 6.15 pm.