Responding to a question on media reports about the same, Managing Director M Thiagarajan told reporters in Chennai that his company had decided to keep away from acquiring budget carriers.

"A low-cost airline model will not be sustainable for India despite its success in the US and European markets," he added.

However, it is open to acquiring other airlines that suits its business model.

To expand into international markets such as Europe and the Far East by 2010-11, Paramount plans to buy wide-body aircraft.

"We are looking at buying Airbus 330, Airbus 350 or Boeing-787 for international connectivity. We intend to provide direct connectivity to international destinations from tier II cities, such as Bangalore, as part of our international expansion," Thiagarajan added.

Paramount Airways, which was recently awarded 'The Century International Quality Era' gold category award at the International Quality Convention in Geneva for outstanding service excellence, has so far been operating with the Brazilian Embraer 179/190 aircraft. At present, it connects eight cities in south India with five aircraft.

Paramount will shortly induct two more aircraft and also enter western India by June. It will initially be flying to Pune and Goa and expects to fly to Ahmedabad, Baroda and Mumbai subsequently. Before entering the northern region, Paramount aims at saturating the western region by 2009.

Thiagarajan claimed that the airline had started making profits from last year. He declined, however, to provide financial figures.

The airline intends to raise about $100-150 million immediately to fund its expansion plans. Thiagarajan ruled out the private equity option, indicating that a major chunk of funds would be raised internally. "Our expansion plan envisages a fleet strength of 40 aircraft by 2010."