Getting more people to fly with you seems to extract a high cost, as pioneer Gopinath learnt and full service carriers rediscover.
In the 42 months since Air Deccan became a credible and stable challenger to the erstwhile ruling triumvirate of Jet Airways, Indian Airlines and Sahara, the new entrants have garnered about 44 per cent of share of the market.
According to the figures for January, budget carriers alone -- such as SpiceJet, GoAir, IndiGo, apart from Deccan -- have 34 per cent share of the market. A year ago, the figure was only 20.8 per cent.
The scrip is moving northwards since last one month, as Deccan Aviation was considering proposals to infuse additional capital by way of private equity or stake sale.
Two years after selling his budget carrier, Air Deccan to Vijay Mallya-owned Kingfisher Airlines, its former chairman Captain G R Gopinath, still harbours a dream to return to the low-cost airline segment, which he pioneered in the country.
With the Bangalore airport announcing stiff user developmental fee on domestic passengers, low-cost carriers -- JetLite, SpiceJet and Simplifly Deccan (formerly Air Deccan) -- have decided to drastically cut their flight schedules to the city and other new airports like Hyderabad.
With the Bangalore airport announcing stiff user developmental fee on domestic passengers, low-cost carriers JetLite, SpiceJet and Simplifly Deccan (formerly Air Deccan) have decided to drastically cut their flight schedules to the city and other new airports like Hyderabad.
Bangalore's new airport will be ready on March 7 to receive the first commercial test flights. It plans to start commercial operations on March 28 or 30, soon after Hyderabad's new airport does so on 16 March.
According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation's recent announcements, most airlines except Deccan, SpiceJet and Jetlite had claimed that they had adequate CAT III-compliant pilots. While Jet claimed it had more than 50 CAT III-compliant pilots, the airline could make no landing under CAT III conditions today.
The US Federal Aviation Administration has yet to certify Epic's planes. The company manufactures private business jets with single and twin engines, capable of carrying six to seven people.
Faced with falling market share, full service airlines are slashing ticket costs to compete with low-cost carriers.
Opening another chapter in aviation industry, G R Gopinath, the pioneer in low-cost carriers, had his Deccan Charters Ltd join hands with Taj Air, the executive charter service of Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL), and Business Jets India Pvt Ltd (BJETS), to launch Powerfly.
He came to do one job but finds himself doing another. He came to work with a certain set of people and finds himself working with quite another. That's the piquant situation in which Ramki Sundaram, the 38-year-old officiating chief executive officer of SimpliFly Deccan finds himself today.
Earlier this year, Kingfisher Airlines had acquired 26 per cent stake in low-cost carrier Deccan Aviation for Rs 550 crore (Rs 5.5 billion). The company also made an open offer for another 20 per cent stake in Deccan Aviation. The open offer was oversubscribed. It received bids for 35 million equity shares against the issue size of 27 million shares.
National Aviation Company, the name of the proposed merged entity of Air India and Indian Airlines, plans to launch a value carrier to take on the challenge from JetLite and Air Deccan.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation will examine issues relating to domestic airlines tying up with foreign carriers and setting up companies abroad to start international operations.
Airlines earn ancillary revenues from freight, sale of food, drinks and gifts onboard, sale of travel insurance, hotel rooms and car rentals, through frequent flier programmes, and by trying to cross-sell other products like credit cards and medical insurance. Globally, airlines make 4-5 per cent of their revenues from ancillary sources.
India's affluent middle class is rekindling its affair with long-distance train travel, as sharp jumps in domestic airline ticket prices push many former frequent fliers back to the railways.
'Corruption is the biggest problem confronting us. We need to bring about an urgent change in our way of life and also in the political scenario,' says Captain Gopinath, founder of India's first low-cost airline Air Deccan who recently joined the Aam Aadmi Party, in our ongoing series celebrating the India we love.
A survey of CEOs shows corporate India is unsure about the party's ideology, with some feeling its left-of-the-centre politics can be detrimental in the long run.
Rival airlines expect Jet Airways to restore some "sanity" in the pricing of tickets after the acquisition of Air Sahara.
Budget airlines are now set to explore the non-metro markets. With high growth prospects there, the carriers are pumping in funds and offering attractive packages to lure customers.
With monsoons round the corner, the airlines are busy announcing monsoon offers to woo passengers to travel during the rainy season, which is considered as the lean period for air travel.
Soorarai Pottru HELD A Ganesh Nadar'S attention till the last frame.
19 per cent of all travel in India (by bus, train or air) was pilgrimage or religious travel (possibly the single largest after business and family-related travel), discovers Ambi Parameswaran.
Have your travel plans ever suffered thanks to the negligence or inefficiency of an airline?
Kingfisher will be permitted to fly abroad this year, following its acquisition of Air Deccan. Since Air Deccan will be eligible for the international arena this August, Kingfisher too will enjoy this right.
Jet's supremacy has now been challenged by a nimble and aggressive Kingfisher which, in just two years and following Mallya's buyout of Air Deccan, is commanding the same market share as Jet Airways and Jetlite.
Their success formula was to enter the business at the right time and exit at the opportune moment.
Kingfisher Airlines will operate international flights between Bangalore and San Francisco, Bangalore-New York and Mumbai-London flights from August this year.
Kingfisher's departure from the Low Cost Carrier (LCC) segment shows that running an LCC is no cakewalk, requiring a whole new management philosophy.
Even if you assume a higher return fare of Rs 40,000, the yield will still be lower than the costs.
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