Uttar Pradesh is about to get its own pair of wings. As of Wednesday, December 31, 2025, the buzz around Shankh Air is reaching a fever pitch. This isn’t just another corporate launch; it’s a story with a lot of soul.
The thing is, the man behind it, Shravan Kumar Vishwakarma, started out driving a truck (some even say a tempo in his early Kanpur days). Or nothing. Let’s be real, going from the steering wheel of a transport vehicle to owning a fleet of Airbus A320s is the kind of “grit and heart” story that makes people root for a brand. Those too.
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The “Sky-High” Logistics: Field Notes
Shankh Air isn’t playing the “low-cost carrier” game. They’ve decided to go Full-Service, offering both Economy and Business Class.
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The Launch: Operations are set to kick off in the first half of January 2026.
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The Hubs: It’s basing itself out of the new Noida International Airport (Jewar) and using Lucknow as its primary secondary base.
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The Routes: First up are the big connectors—Lucknow to Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. But the real “heart” is in the regional push to Varanasi, Agra, and Gorakhpur.
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The Fleet: Starting with 3 Airbus A320-200s, with 2 more (A321s) coming by mid-February. The goal? 20 planes in three years.
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The “Common Man” Promise
It’s an ongoing situation where airline pricing usually feels like a trap. But Vishwakarma is making a bold play.
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No Festival Hikes: He’s promised no dynamic pricing during festivals like Diwali or Eid. He wants to make sure a family can actually afford to fly home when it matters most.
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The Price Point: While official booking isn’t live yet, insiders suggest Lucknow-Delhi fares could start below ₹3,000.
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Job Creation: They are looking to hire over 1,000 direct staff in the first year alone.
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A Bridge to the Clouds
And here’s the kicker: this airline is being positioned as a “bridge” between the heritage of the North and the tech hubs of the South. Vishwakarma’s $200 million investment is a massive bet that the Indian middle class is ready for a “homegrown” UP airline that doesn’t treat them like a number in an algorithm.
Basically, Shankh Air is trying to bring the “sincerity” of the road to the skies. Whether they can actually maintain “fair pricing” when fuel costs spike in 2026 is the big question everyone is watching.
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