Air Deccan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Air Deccan

IATA DN	ICAO DKN	Callsign DECCAN
Founded		2003
Hubs		Bangalore International Airport
Focus cities / secondary hubs		Chennai International Airport
Fleet size		40
Destinations		59
Parent company		Deccan Aviation Pvt Ltd
Headquarters		Bangalore
Key people		Capt GR Gopinath
Website: http://www.airdeccan.net

Air Deccan is an airline based in Bangalore, India. It was India's first low-cost carrier, it is currently operating 300 flights to 59 destinations a day within India. It has a secondary hub at Chennai International Airport, Chennai. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Deccan Aviation.

1 History
- 1.1 Growth and Expansion
- 1.2 Competitors
2 Net Loss
3 Current Fleet
4 Fleet Expansion
5 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Growth and Expansion

Air Deccan has grown rapidly since it first started air operations in 2003, and despite its almost disastrous maiden inaugural flight (which caught fire), it has continued to grow. The growing Indian economy and the increasing number of middle-class people in India has greatly helped its growth. On 25th January 2006, Air Deccan filed a Red Herring prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board 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. However, due to stock market downturn, Air Deccan's IPO barely managed to get scrape through (after extending the issue closing date), but it was a flop on listing. Its shares were listed at a discount of about 50 per cent to the issue price of Rs 148.65-levels.* Air Deccan

[edit] 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. Moreover frequent delay and cancellation of Air Deccan flights is leading to customers going to other budget airlines.

[edit] Net Loss

Air Deccan has reported a sizeable net loss for the first reporting period since it became a publicly traded company. The carrier says in a statement to the National Stock Exchange of India that it suffered a net loss of Rs3.4 billion ($74 million) for the 15-month period between 1 April 2005 and 30 June 2006. It recently changed the end of its financial year to 30 June from 31 March. No comparable earnings figures are provided by Air Deccan, which became a publicly traded company in June after an initial public offering that raised far less than expected. Total sales amounted to Rs13.5 billion during the 15-month reporting period, while total expenditure amounted to Rs16.2 billion. Fast-growing Air Deccan introduced the no-frills concept to the Indian domestic market in 2003 and it now claims a local market share of more than 20%, making it the second-largest domestic airline after full-service operator Jet Airways. It originally hoped to break even in the current financial year but executives are quoted in the local media as saying it now does not expect to post profits until 2008 as a result of intense competition following the launch of several other new airlines.

[edit] Current Fleet

The Air Deccan fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of September 2006):

Total - 35 aircraft

The average age of the Air Deccan fleet is 6.1 years (at April 2006).

Air Deccan also had evaluated wide body options like the Airbus A380 for international operations. However there was no positive effect of these evaluations.

[edit] Fleet Expansion

The company has acquired 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.
All 62 A320 aircraft will be powered by IAE V2500 engines.

[edit] External links

	Airlines of India
	Air Deccan • Air India • Air-India Express • Air Sahara • Alliance Air • Archana Airways • Blue Dart Aviation • Club One Air • Crescent Air • Deccan Aviation • East-West Airlines • Go Air • Indian • IndiGo Airlines • Indus Airways • Jagson Airlines • Jet Airways • Kingfisher Airlines • Paramount Airways • SpiceJet • Visa Airways