Air Deccan has announced daily schedules between Chennai and Tuticorin, and Hyderabad and Rajahmundry from 1 April 2006. The launch of the Chennai-Tuticorin flight was delayed due to pending clearances from government authorities. Bookings have been open from 4 March 2006 for flights between 1 April and 31 May. It plans to ply a 48-seater ATR aircraft on the route. The flight will take off from Chennai at 9.15 am and reach Tuticorin by 11.15 am. On the return leg it will leave Tuticorin at 11.30 am and arrive in Chennai at 12.55 pm.
The 72-seater Hyderabad-Rajahmundry flight will operate via Vijayawada. The flight will also mark the first time Rajahmundry is being connected by air. The daily flight will leave Hyderabad at 9.30 am and reach Rajahmundry at 10.40 am.
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Air Deccan is an airline based in Bangalore, India. It was India's first low-cost carrier, connecting 32 cities within India. Its secondary Hub is at Chennai International Airport, Chennai. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Deccan Aviation.
History
Air Deccan was established in 2003 and started operations in August that year with regular scheduled flights from Bangalore to Mangalore and Hubli. The following month, it opened a second hub at Chennai.
Air Deccan became the first private Indian operator to fly Airbus aircraft when it deployed the first of 5 leased Airbus A320s in July 2004. It was the first airline in India to link second rung cities like Coimbatore, Hubli, Madurai and Visakhapatnam to metros like Bangalore and Chennai.
Growth and Expansion
Air Deccan has grown rapidly since in first started its air operations in 2003. The growing Indian economy and the increasing number of middle-class people in India has greatly helped its growth. On 25th Jan 2006 Air Deccan has filed a Red Herring prospectus with SEBI Securities and Exchange Bureau of India. Air Deccan Plans to offload 25% of its stake in the IPO planned for late March or early April. 24.5 million equity shares of ten rupees each will be divested at a price to be announced later to raise Rs 1100-1320 Cr ($250-300 million) The proceed from the IPO will be used to set up a training centre in Bangalore and a maintenance facility in Chennai.
Competitors
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 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.
Services
Air Deccan operates services to the following domestic scheduled destinations (as of September 2005):
Air Deccan to offer more tickets for Rs 500
[March 16, 2006]
(Times of India, The (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Mar. 16--BANGALORE, India -- India's first low-cost airline will restructure its fares beginning April this year. The airline will soon offer a variety of fares including more tickets for Rs 500.
The fares will vary for different flights on the same sector depending on which flight one is catching. A Friday afternoon flight or a 7 am flight, for example, would be peak flights and hence would be expensive.
The fares of non-peak flights would be cheaper. "The idea is to differentiate between the busy and non-busy flights and offer fares accordingly," Air Deccan chief operating officer Warwick Brady told The Times of India.
He informed that the new fare system is expected to rake in about 15 to 20 per cent higher revenue for the airline. Also, while 50 per cent of the tickets will have low fares, the remaining will have higher fares.
Yet, it would be cheaper than fares offered by airlines such as Jet Airways and Indian Airlines. Booking early will get you cheaper fares, but booking a day prior to travel would entail steeper fares.
Bookings can be made three to five months in advance. Warwick also said that Air Deccan will offer several discounts from time to time, especially during summer.
"The airline has recruited a financial expert from Aer Lingus, the national carrier of Ireland to work out this strategy.
He had transformed the airline from a loss making one into a profit making airline, adopting similar strategies." Air Deccan is also working on improving its ontime performance and reducing delays and cancellations.
"Already, we have achieved a 90 per cent ontime or a maximum of one-hour delay in flights.
Often, ATR aircraft flights get into trouble because of poor weather conditions in places such as Dehradun, Silchar where the airports are closed very often.
This has a spiralling effect and we are working on a strategy to have late morning flights rather than early morning flights in such destinations. Also, we are trying to reduce delays occurring at Delhi and Mumbai airports."
Air Deccan which is currently flying 235 flights a day is expected to step it up to 285 flights by April-end.
The airline has a fleet of 29 aircraft with three airbuses and ATRs being added to this kitty in the next three months.
The planes, currently stationed in six bases, will subsequently be stationed in eight bases to enable streamlining the turnaround time and reducing delays, the COO added.
Air Deccan Flies to 57 Destinations in India (As of Feb 1st 2006), more than any other airline Private or domestic in India. Air Deccan will connect Port Blair to Chennai from March 1st 2006.
Current Fleet
The Air Deccan fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of Feb2006):
9 Airbus A320-200
5 ATR 42-320
7 ATR 42-500
5 ATR 72-212A
Total - 26 aircraft
Fleet Expansion
The company has acquired a 30 Airbus A320s, which are to be deployed starting in 2007.
The airline has also ordered 30 new ATR 72-500 aircraft (half to be leased), along with 3 second hand ATR 42-500s and 3 second hand ATR 72-500s. Deliveries will begin in May 2005 and be spread over a five year period with 6 to 8 aircraft delivered each year. As of June 2005, two of the 30 aircraft have been delivered.
On January 3rd 2006, Air Deccan placed a further order of 30 Airbus A320 aircraft taking their total orders of A320s to 62.
IATA
DN ICAO
DKN Callsign
Deccan
Founded 2003
Hubs : Bangalore International Airport, Chennai International Airport
Fleet size 22
New Air Deccan Flights
Air Deccan is an airline based in Bangalore, India. It was India's first low-cost carrier, connecting 32 cities within India. Its secondary Hub is at Chennai International Airport, Chennai. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Deccan Aviation.
Air Deccan has grown rapidly since in first started its air operations in 2003. The growing Indian economy and the increasing number of middle-class people in India has greatly helped its growth. On 25th Jan 2006 Air Deccan has filed a Red Herring prospectus with SEBI Securities and Exchange Bureau of India. Air Deccan Plans to offload 25% of its stake in the IPO planned for late March or early April. 24.5 million equity shares of ten rupees each will be divested at a price to be announced later to raise Rs 1100-1320 Cr ($250-300 million) The proceed from the IPO will be used to set up a training centre in Bangalore and a maintenance facility in Chennai.
Air Deccan to offer more tickets for Rs 500