Air Deccan

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Air Deccan

IATA DN	ICAO DKN	Callsign DECCAN
Founded		August 25, 2003
Hubs		Bangalore International Airport
Focus cities		Chennai International Airport
Fleet size		40
Destinations		59
Parent company		Deccan Aviation Pvt Ltd
Company slogan		SimplyFly
Headquarters		Bangalore
Key people		Capt GR Gopinath
Website: http://www.flyairdeccan.net

Interior of Air Deccan Airbus A320

Air Deccan (Kannada: ಏರ್ ಡೆಕ್ಕನ್; Hindi: एयर डेक्कन) 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.

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1 Growth and Expansion
- 1.1 Current Fleet
- 1.2 Fleet Expansion
2 Competitors
3 Revenue
4 Controversies
5 References
6 External links

[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)^[1], 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 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.

Further information: Air Deccan destinations

[edit] Current Fleet

The Air Deccan fleet consists of a total of 41 aircraft (as of January 2007):

The average age of the Air Deccan fleet is 6.1 years as of April 2006.^[2]

[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] 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, Indigo 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, however this trend has been reversed lately with an improved on-time performance of more than 95% (till Dec 2006).^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Revenue

Air Deccan has reported a sizeable net loss for the first reporting period since it became a publicly traded company. In a statement to the National Stock Exchange of India it reported a net loss of Rs 3.4 billion ($74 million) for the 15-month period between 1 April 2005 and 30 June 2006. It originally hoped to break even in the current financial year but executives are quoted in the local media as saying it now does not expect to post profits until 2008 as a result of intense competition following the launch of several other new airlines. Air Deccan has now turned profitable on the back of a strong Oct-Dec 2006 quarter, posting a profit of Rs. 9.64 crores (a litte more than US$ 2 million).^[3]

[edit] Controversies

In a recent exposure by CNN-IBN channel, Air Deccan had been accused of delibrate slowdown in check-in and overbooking, of which the latter is a violation of DGCA rules. Low cost airlines are not allowed to overbook since they do not refund the passenger fare nor do they offload the passengers to other airlines. The exposure claims that Air Deccan delibrately slows the check-in process and offloads many passengers with confirmed tickets as no shows.^[4] In response, Air Deccan has denied allegations of deliberate slow check-in and overbooking and admitted that there were minor system errors following an updation of their booking system in 27th February 2007, which have since been rectified. ^[5] They also claim that the reports on CNN-IBN have been "manufactured" to create "sensational journalism" and that their reservation system cannot overbook.^[6]

[edit] References

^ "Air Deccan plane catches fire after flag-off", The Hindu Business Line, Sep 25, 2003. Retrieved on 2007-03-28.
^ Air Deccan Airline fleet Age
^ Deccan Aviation (January 25, 2007). Deccan Aviation declares profit for Q2 FY07 (PDF). Press release. Retrieved on 2007-03-16.
^ Air Deccan taking people for ride
^ Air Deccan denies overbooking
^ Air Deccan denies allegations made by CNN-IBN report

[edit] External links

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