Air Deccan to fly again with ₹1 tickets, relaunch this month
Air Deccan, India’s first domestic low cost airline, is set to relaunch operations this month with what it is remembered for the most—₹1 airfares.
Air Deccan, founded by GR Gopinath in 2003, merged with Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines in 2008 but was grounded in 2012 under financial duress.
In its second innings the airline will begin with four bases at Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Shillong, connecting them with smaller cities. It is rare for airlines, that often go belly up in a cost-heavy industry, to revive.
The first Air Deccan flight will take-off on December 22 and fly to Mumbai from Nashik, Gopinath told Mint, speaking from his home in Bangalore. “This will be my last Udan and then I will hang up my boots,” said Gopinath.
The government’s Udan scheme (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik), which loosely translates as “let the common man fly” and proposes to connect small towns on fares of about ₹2,500 for a onehour flight, has provided that entry for the entrepreneur.
Air Deccan, which has the tagline “Simplifly”, will brand its entry with a “the common man takes to the skies” logo designed by the late RK Laxman.
“Some of the initial lucky people will be able to get Re1 fares also,” Gopinath said, even though most tickets will start at ₹1,400 for a 40-minute Nashik-Mumbai flight, a distance that would take four hours to cover by road.
Air Deccan will also operate daily return flights between Nashik and Pune and Mumbai and Jalgaon.
By January the airline plans to station a second aircraft in Delhi to connect the city with Agra, Shimla, Ludhiana, Pantnagar, Dehradun and Kullu.
Air Deccan will also station two planes in Kolkata, flying them to Jamshedpur, Rourkela, Durgapur, Bagdogra, Burnpur, Cooch Behar, Agartala, and from Shillong to Imphal, Dimapur, Aizawl and Agartala. The airline Deccan will use 19-seater Beech 1900 D planes that are used worldwide. Three of these planes have joined its fleet and two more will be added over the next few weeks, according to Gopinath.
By January, four planes will be used for services and one will be kept on standby.
Gopinath said he would like to expand faster but is not getting slots and parking at the congested Mumbai and Delhi airports and flying to airports on the outskirts would ruin the airline before it has taken its first baby steps.
“The private sector airport monopolies are not aligned to the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the steps being taken by aviation ministry in making Udan a success,” Gopinath said. “They say we can give three slots per week for Kolhapur-Bombay. Do you think someone who goes by plane will like to come by train the next day?”
An email seeking comment from Mumbai airport remained unanswered till the time of going to press. A Delhi airport spokesman said to support Udan the airport has offered 26 flights slots to four airlines. Air Deccan had requested for a total of 10 slots, out of which 6 slots have already been offered to the airline. “In addition, 4 post-midnight slots have also been offered. However, Air Deccan is yet to finalise their schedule,” it added.
NEW DELHI: