Kingfisher-Air Deccan merger a welcome note for Indian air industry

At the recent Aviation Outlook Summit 2007 held in Singapore on October 31 � November 1, Kingfisher Airlines� Chairman and CEO Dr Vijay Mallya spoke about the Indian air industry and its low-cost sector.

In a report by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), Dr Mallya, CAPA�s Aviation Executive of the Year, spoke at the Summit about the importance of his acquirement of budget airline, Air Deccan, in relation to the Indian aviation sector.

Most likely to benefit most from the acquisition is the Indian air industry, Dr Mallya stated. He explained that before the arrival of Air Deccan, fares were at INR12,000 for the Bangalore-Delhi route which was being operated by three carriers.

After Air Deccan�s entered the market, the average ticket price dropped to INR2,500.

The Indian aviation industry now has three main groupings including Air Deccan and Kingfisher, Air India and Indian Airways as well as Jet Airways and Sahara.

Together, the three groups command 83% of the Indian market ensuring prices and operations are sustained.

"We are not looking to operate as cartels or exploit consumers, but we do want to make some money and insert some sanity into the industry. In a few years, I think we will see preserved business [low cost and full-service] models, but a vastly improved bottom line,� said Dr Mallya.

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Air Deccan's phenomenal growth spurred the entry of more than half a dozen low-cost air carriers in India. Air Deccan faces stiff competition from Kingfisher Airlines, SpiceJet, Indigo and GoAir. The growth of these low-cost air carriers has also forced mainstream Indian airliners like Indian Airlines, Jet Airways and Air Sahara to lower their fares. However, there is a lot of scope for the growth of the airline since the Indian air industry continues to remain largely under-penetrated. Moreover frequent delay and cancellation of Air Deccan flights is leading to customers going to other budget airlines, however this trend has been reversed lately with an improved on-time performance of more than 95% (till Dec 2006).

Current Fleet

The Air Deccan fleet consists of a total of 41 aircraft (as of January 2007):

18 Airbus A320-232
5 ATR 42-320
10 ATR 42-500
8 ATR 72-500 (aka 212A)
The average age of the Air Deccan fleet is 6.1 years as of April 2006.

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Contact

Air Deccan
35/2, Cunningham Road
Opposite Canara Bank
Bangalore - 560 052
Phone : 080 51148190-99 / 41585000 / 5200
Fax: 080 51235820


Deccan Aviation Pvt Ltd
Jakkur Aerodrome
Bellary Road
Bangalore-560 064
Phone: 080 28567523/ 24
Telefax: 080 28567525

Air Deccan destinations

This is a list of airports served by Air Deccan.

Destinations

India

Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Port Blair
Andhra Pradesh
Hyderabad (Begumpet Airport)
Puttaparthi
Rajahmundry
Tirupati
Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam
Assam
Dibrugarh
Guwahati (Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport)
Silchar
Bihar
Patna
Chandigarh
Chhattisgarh
Raipur
Delhi (Indira Gandhi International Airport)
Goa (Dabolim Airport)
Gujarat
Ahmedabad (Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport)
Baroda
Bhavnagar
Jamnagar
Kandla
Rajkot
Surat
Vadodara
Jammu and Kashmir
Jammu
Srinagar
Vaishno Devi
Jharkhand
Ranchi
Karnataka
Bangalore (HAL Bangalore International Airport) Hub
Belgaum (Belgaum Airport)
Bellary (Bellary Airport)
Hampi (Hampi Airport)
Hubli (Hubli Airport)
Mangalore (Mangalore International Airport)
Kerala
Kochi (Cochin International Airport)
Kozhikode (Calicut International Airport)
Thiruvananthapuram (Thiruvananthapuram International Airport)
Madhya Pradesh
Bhopal
Gwalior
Indore (Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport)
Jabalpur
Maharashtra
Aurangabad
Kolhapur
Mumbai (Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport)
Nagpur
Nasik
Pune
Mizoram
Aizawl
Orissa
Bhubaneswar
Punjab
Amritsar (Raja Sansi International Airport)
Rajasthan
Jaipur
Tamil Nadu
Chennai (Chennai International Airport)
Coimbatore
Madurai
Tiruchirapalli
Tuticorin
Tripura
Agartala
Uttarakhand
Dehradun
Uttar Pradesh
Kanpur
Lucknow (Amausi Airport)
West Bengal
Baghdogra (Bagdogra Airport)
Kolkata (Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport)

Air Deccan launches flights to Bhubaneswar/Guwahati from Bangalore

Air Deccan's new flight to Guwahati and Kolkata would aid the movement growing air passengers between these major cities and also buttress connectivity to the Northeast...

Low cost carrier Air Deccan today announced linking of Bhubaneswar and Guwahati with Bangalore through daily flights from March 26, 2007.

The Flight to Bhubaneswar would be via Chennai, while that to Guwahati would be via Kolkata. A new 180 seater Airbus A-320 would be deployed in these sectors. Air Deccan's new flight to Guwahati and Kolkata would aid the movement growing air passengers between these major cities and also buttress connectivity to the Northeast, a company release said.

Flight DN 636 would leave Bangalore at 0545 hrs and reach Kolkata at 0815 hrs. Depart Kolkata at 0845 hrs and reach Guwahati at 0950 hrs. On the return journey flight DN 635 would leave Guwahati at 1020 hrs reach Kolkata at 1125 hrs and be back in Bangalore at 1425 hrs.

Flight DN 761 will leave Bangalore at 0725 hrs, reach Chennai at 0810 hrs and Bhubaneswar at 1025 hrs. On the return journey, it would leave Bhubaneswar at 1055 hrs, reach Chennai at 1240 hrs and Bangalore at 1355 hrs.

The release said Air Deccan had also launched a slew of new flights connecting Chennai to Bhubaneshwar, Kolkata and Agartala, Delhi to Jaipur, Udaipur and Jodhpur, Kolkata to Imphal and Dimapur, Hyderabad to Bhubaneswar, Visakhapatnam to Bhubaneswar and Mumbai to Mangalore. Operations would commence from March 26.

Air Deccan Managing Director G R Gopinath said that Air Deccan had successfully created a tectonic shift towards low fare air travel and going forward, it would continue to offer the lowest possible fares to enable common man to fly as often as possible. The new flights would not only provide a convenient and affordable travel option, but also spur economic activities, encourage tourist movement and provide a fillip to development in adjoining areas. (Source: Deccan Herald)

Website: http://www.flyairdeccan.net