India Gives NOC to 3 New Airlines
Introduction of airlines Shankh Air, Al Hind Air and FlyExpress aim to boost competition, regional connectivity and reduce reliance on dominant carriers like IndiGo
Dec 25, 2025 - The Indian government has approved the launch of three new airlines — Shankh Air, Al Hind Air and FlyExpress - and the Union Civil Aviation Ministry has issued them No Objection Certificates (NOCs).
Announcing this on X, Union Minister of Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu said: “It has been endeavour of the ministry to encourage more airlines in Indian Aviation which is amongst the fastest growing aviation markets in the world owing to the policies of the government of Hon’ble PM Shri @narendramodi ji. Schemes like UDAN, has enabled smaller carriers Star Air, India One Air, Fly91 etc. to play an important role in the regional connectivity within the country and there is more scope for further growth.”
Shankh Air, based in Uttar Pradesh, had already received its NOC earlier and is expected to begin operations in the first quarter of 2026. The airline will be operated by Shankh Aviation which is expecting delivery of its aircraft soon. It plans to scale up its fleet to around 20-25 in the next couple of years, as per reports.
On December 24, 2025, two more airlines were granted the NOC - Al Hind Air and FlyExpress - and they are now gearing up to start flights, initially focusing on domestic and regional connectivity. Al Hind Air is being promoted by the Kerala-based alhind Group.
Introduction of the new airlines comes amid concerns over a heavy reliance on a few major carriers in the country, especially IndiGo which currently handles around 65% of India’s aviation operations. The recent mass disruptions in the carrier’s operations caused major difficulties across the country with passengers stranded for hours. This highlights the vulnerabilities in the sector with monopoly of a few airlines in the absence of competition.
The government’s efforts to bring in more airlines is an aimed at precisely reducing this. More airlines mean healthy competition, more choices for passengers, competitive facilities and stronger connectivity and diversification across India.
#IndianAviation #NewAirlines #ShankhAir #AlHindAir #FlyExpress #CivilAviation #UDANScheme #RegionalConnectivity #IndiGo #AviationNews #IndiaNews #RajasthanNews #UdaipurNews
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