After giving nod to the country’s first regional airline, Chennai-based Star Aviation, this year, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has now granted permits to another two regional carriers.

Two non-scheduled carrier airlines — Jagson Airlines and MDLR Airlines — will fly in the northern region of the country. This comes close on the heelds of granting permit to Dubai-based NRI Syed Mohammed for scheduled operations of Star Aviation in south.

“The Civil Aviation Ministry has granted permits to both Jagson Airlines and MDLR Airlines for scheduled services in the regional sector. Both will operate in the northern region with scheduled operations to several tourist locations like Kullu, Shimla, Chandigarh and Dharamsala. There is no restriction on where they can fly in the northern region as per the notification issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for regional airlines earlier this year,” said a senior official in the Ministry.

The applications of Gurgaon-based MDLR Airlines and air taxi operators Jagson Airlines were pending for permit with the ministry for a while. The two chartered airlines are currently plying on regional routes with air connectivity to Tier II and Tier III cities. Jagson Airlines fleet consists of three 20-seater Dornier-228s and one Chetak-III helicopter. Jagson flies from its base in Delhi to Kullu and Shimla and from Mumbai and Pune to Shirdi. Jagson also operates two 26-seater MI-172 helicopters in the Northeastern states.

Gurgaon-based MDLR Airlines offers chartered flights between Chandigarh, Delhi, Ranchi, Kolkata, Jaipur and Jodhpur. The fleet comprises two British Aerospace Avro RJ70 jet aircraft. These are the first RJ70s to be operated by an Indian carrier.