Air Taxi (India) (Delhi International) has secured its Air Operators Permit (AOP) from the Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and is preparing to launch subsidised UDAN/RCS routes out of Chandigarh using a single, three-seater Tecnam P2006T twin-piston aircraft.

"We got our permit on December 14. We will be applying for slots now," co-founder Varun Suhag told Moneycontrol.

The start-up scooped rights to operate a total of 26 subsidised routes under the UDAN programme, including services from Shimla, Hisar, Kanpur Chakeri, Chitrakoot, and Shravasti.

Air Taxi India will be one of the very few operators using the twin-piston Costruzioni Aeronautiche TECNAM aircraft for commercial operations. The Italian manufacturer has also certified a larger model, the Tecnam P2012, which entered into revenue service with Cape Air (9K, Hyannis) in late 2019.