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All the aircraft in the Kingfisher fleet will seat 180 passengers and it will be a single-class airline. On the group's foray into aviation Mallya said, "The UB group was the first to launch a non-government commercial air service in 1990. We now feel a compelling need to re-enter the aviation sector."

The group will be shortly expanding the board of Kingfisher Airlines. It has inducted airline veterans Parvez Damania as executive director and Vinay Kashyap as adviser.

The airline will fly on all trunk routes like New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Indore, Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram, Mangalore and Goa.

The airline has selected CFM56-5B engines to power its new fleet of four Airbus A320s. The airline has also taken option orders for eight additional CFM56-powered Airbus A320s. Delivery of the firm aircraft begins in late 2005. Kingfisher begins operations in early 2005 with four leased A320s.

UB Group Chairman Vijay Mallya poses with Kingfisher Airlines flight attendants at a ceremony in Mumbai on Wednesday, ahead of the launch of India's newest budget airline. Photo: Sebastian D'Souza/AFP/Getty Images

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