Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh) [India], April 10 (ANI): Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu on Friday virtually inaugurated Fly91 flight operations at Vijayawada Airport, marking the start of new connectivity between Vijayawada and Hyderabad.

The launch event was attended by Andhra Pradesh Minister for Mines and Geology Kollu Ravindra, along with airport officials and representatives of the airline. The first service has been introduced between Vijayawada and Hyderabad, and the airline plans to operate additional services in the future.

Director of Vijayawada Airport, Lakshmi Kantha Reddy, said, 'I am very proud to announce that today from Vijayawada Airport, a new airline called Fly91 has started its operations. It connects Vijayawada and Hyderabad. We are very happy that the inauguration of the new airline at Vijayawada airport was done by our Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu.'

'Thank you very much to the airport administration and the Ministry of Civil Aviation. The infrastructure that the airport provides and the government provides encourages airlines like Fly91 to start services to the two and three-tier cities. Our next phase of growth is going to be from Hyderabad,' Chief Revenue Officer Ashutosh Chitnis told reporters.

State Minister Kollu Ravindra said, 'Today, a new service, Fly91, has started from Vijayawada Airport. This program was inaugurated by Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu. We plan to have connectivity from Vijayawada to Shirdi and Varanasi in future.'

Officials said the launch is part of efforts to expand regional air connectivity. The airline is expected to connect more destinations in phases.

Earlier, the Civil Aviation Ministry had supported measures to manage Aviation Turbine Fuel pricing to maintain operations and connectivity. The ministry stated that calibrated pricing decisions were taken to address cost pressures in the aviation sector while ensuring continuity of services.

In a post on X, Kinjarapu wrote, 'With ATF prices in India--deregulated since 2001 and revised monthly based on international benchmarks, facing extraordinary pressure due to global energy disruptions and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a steep increase of over 100% was anticipated from 1 April. In this challenging context, the decision by PSU Oil Marketing Companies, under the Ministry of Petroleum, in consultation with the Ministry of Civil Aviation, to implement only a partial and staggered increase of 25% (Rs 15/litre) for domestic airlines is both pragmatic and forward-looking, while ensuring that foreign routes bear the full market-aligned price.' (ANI)