Deccan chief wants multiple airports

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1089011
Manisha Singhal Thursday, April 05, 2007 00:05 IST


With an impending operational break in the coming few months, Air Deccan is ready to embark on the second phase of its expansion. This and connecting the country’s wine capital, Nashik, to the other cities by air remains firmly on the airline’s agenda.
In its second phase of expansion, the thrust will be on connecting regional airports with the metro airports and on increasing non-conventional routes. Also on the agenda is connecting via air, towns which have historical, economic and tourist importance. This will be the focus of the expansion plan.
Talking to DNA, Deccan Airlines’ managing director, Capt GR Gopinath said, “Air Deccan is just a few per cent points away from becoming the one of the leading airlines in the country. The February results show that we are just 3.5 per cent below the country leader, Jet Airways, our market share is about 21.6 per cent as compared to Jet’s 25.3 per cent.”
Interestingly, Indian which is the third, has a much lower market share of 16.5 per cent.
The chief of this low cost carrier, which says it needs just Rs300 more per seat to be in the black believes, that “it would be a short sighted move to think that aviation can grow in this country by strengthening Delhi and Mumbai airports.”
Gopinath says, “The regional airports will have to come up. There has to be an integration of the small and the large towns. Ultimately you would have to integrate rural areas with urban back and forth.”
Towns like Kolhapur, Belgaun and Hubli, whose middle and business class must travel, will be connected by Air Deccan flights with reasonable fares of up to Rs2000. Also places which have a local history and scope for religious tourism like Nashik and Pushkar will be connected,” he added.
Making a departure from the established system of using a travel agent for ticketing, Air Deccan has come up with innovative and unconventional ways for expanding its ticketing network in the small towns. The company has employed non-traditional travel agents at multiple points for better reach. “If you want to build an airline you have to build it on the short tours,” said Gopinath adding that almost 80 per cent of their routes are non-metro routes revenue.
For its expansion plans, the airline will add about 100 new flights this year alone, taking its tally to 450 flights. It is also in the process of expanding its fleet and is buying about 19 Airbus A320s and 23 ATRs of which four A320s and eight ATRs will be inducted this year.
Talking about the recent controversy where people alleged that the airline over-booking its flights, Gopinath said, “Deccan Airline has filed a legal suit of Rs50 crores against the channel. We will not allow the Talibanisation by the media.”
© 2005-2007 Diligent Media Corporation Ltd.