Following the decision to purchase five 550-seater superjumbo Airbus A380s, the Vijay Mallya-promoted private carrier, Kingfisher Airlines, is planning to acquire smaller aircraft with 50-80 seat capacity for the domestic routes.
"Kingfisher Airlines has already placed an order for three A319 aircraft with 144-seat capacity. Now, we are evaluating the prospects of acquiring even smaller aircraft with 50 to 80 seat capacity," a senior airline executive said.
He said the proposal is at a conceptual stage and the airline is conducting a feasibility study of flying smaller aircraft on domestic routes.
"Nothing has been finalised as yet regarding the number of aircraft or the estimated capital outlay for the proposal," he said.
Kingfisher Airlines, a UB group company, currently has a fleet of six A320s with seating capacity of 174. The airline plans to expand its fleet to 11 aircraft by January 2005.
In reference to the plans of inducting superjumbo planes into the Kingfisher Airlines fleet, UB Group chairman and managing director Vijay Mallya said there would not be any delay in deliveries of A380s as it is scheduled for 2010.
Meanwhile, international airlines are planning to impose financial penalties on Airbus. The European manufacturer is six months behind schedule in delivering its new superjumbo A380s due to production problems.
"Kingfisher has no plans to impose any financial penalties on Airbus. We are sure that we can take the A380 deliveries within the scheduled time," Mallya said.
A top executive of the airline said that it has no plans to hike airfares in the wake of rise in aviation turbine fuel prices.
"We have positioned ourselves as a top class airline offering high level of services under any circumstances," he said.
Asked about the discrimination towards private airlines regarding alloting slot arrangements and parking space, he said talks are on in order to streamline the issues with the Airports Authority of India.
"For obvious reasons, established airlines will enjoy airport parking space and slot arrangements in any case. However, we are in discussions with AAI to sort out the issues," he added.
