Kingfisher Airlines
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| Kingfisher Airlines | ||
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| IATA IT |
ICAO KFR |
Callsign KINGFISHER |
| Founded | 2004 | |
| Hubs | Bangalore International Airport Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport
Indira Gandhi International Airport Rajiv Gandhi International Airport |
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| Focus cities | Chennai , Kolkata | |
| Frequent flyer program | King Club | |
| Fleet size | 43 (+ 122 orders) = 165 | |
| Destinations | 38 + 20 (Subject to Govt Approval) = 58 | |
| Parent company | UB Group | |
| Company slogan | Fly The Good Times | |
| Headquarters | Bangalore, India | |
| Key people | Dr. Vijay Mallya, CMD Mr. Hitesh Patel, EVP Mr. Rajesh Verma, EVP Mr. A. Raghunathan, CFO |
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| Website: http://www.flykingfisher.com | ||
Kingfisher Airlines Limited is an airline based in Bangalore, India. It is a major Indian airline operating 218 flights a day and has a network of 38 destinations, with plans for regional and long-haul international services. Its main bases are Bangalore International Airport, Bangalore, Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai, Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad and Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi.[1] Kingfisher Airlines, through one of its holding companies United Breweries Group, has acquired 26% stake in the budget airline Air Deccan and has option to buy further of 20% stake from the secondary market.
Kingfisher is one of only six airlines in the world to have a five-star rating from Skytrax, along with Asiana Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airways.
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[edit] History
The airline started operations on 9 May 2005, following the lease of four Airbus A320 aircraft. As at July 2007, Kingfisher operates only on domestic routes, however it has announced plans to start flights to the USA with Airbus A340 and Airbus A380 aircraft. The airline is owned by the United Breweries Group. (which also owns the popular Indian beer of the same name). Kingfisher Airlines' main "luxury" component is its in-flight entertainment system, a first among Indian airlines.[citation needed]. The airline's in-flight Mobile Phone and Internet Services will be provided by OnAir starting 2008 for long-haul flights. In October 2007, the airline announced Deepika Padukone as its brand ambassador.
[edit] Destinations
Kingfisher Airlines currently operates a domestic network across India. It will soon offer international services to North America using Airbus A340-500HGW aircraft. Other destinations which Kingfisher wish to fly include East Midlands, London, Sydney, San Francisco,Singapore,Hong Kong, Vancouver, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok from its Bangalore and Mumbai hubs.
[edit] Fleet
Kingfisher operates a large fleet from the A320 family for domestic/short haul services. It will soon be operating the A330 and A340 for international services. The Kingfisher Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft as of 02 October 2007:
| Aircraft | Total | Passengers (Kingfisher First/Kingfisher Class) |
Routes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATR 72-500 | 18 (17 orders) |
66 (0/66) | Domestic Short Haul | Pratt & Whitney PW127F Engines |
| Airbus A319-100 | 3 (1 order) |
144 (0/144) | Short to Medium Haul | IAE V2500 Engines |
| Airbus A319-100CJ | 1 | Corporate Jet | Short to Medium Haul | Private Aircraft,Not Used for Commercial Operations |
| Airbus A320-200 | 13 (49 orders) |
174 (0/174) 134 (20/114) |
Short to Medium Haul | IAE V2500 Engines |
| Airbus A321-200 | 8 | 199 (0/199) 151 (32/119) |
Short to Medium Haul | IAE V2500 Engines |
| Airbus A330-200 | 0 (15 orders) |
Medium to Long Haul | Pratt & Whitney PW4168A Engines | |
| Airbus A340-500HGW | 0 (10 orders) |
Ultra Long Haul | Rolls Royce Trent 556 Engines | |
| Airbus A350-800XWB | (20 orders) (10 options) |
Ultra Long Haul | Rolls Royce Trent XWB Engines | |
| Airbus A380-800 | (5 orders) (5 Options) |
Long Haul | Entry into service: 2010 | |
| Total | 43 +(122 orders)=165 |
Fleet Information Data - http://www.flykingfisher.com/ourfleet.asp
Kingfisher Airlines has an average fleet age of 1.7 years as at March 2008.
- The airline was the first in India to initially - and continues - to operate with all new aircraft.[citation needed]
- On 18 February 2005, Kingfisher Airlines signed a contract with Airbus for three Airbus A319 aircraft, adding to the 10 Airbus A320 aircraft (plus 20 options) ordered in January 2005. The first of the A319s will be delivered in December 2005, complementing the A320s on routes to smaller cities in India.[3]
- On June 15, 2005, it became the first (and only) Indian airline to order the Airbus A380. It placed orders for five A380s, five Airbus A350-800 aircraft and five Airbus A330-200 aircraft in a deal valued at over $3 billion. Delivery of the A330s is due to start in late 2007, followed by the A380s in 2010 and the A350s in 2012.
- On November 20, 2005, at the Dubai Air Show, Kingfisher Airlines announced that it would be buying 20 ATR 72-500s (plus 15 options). The deal is estimated to be worth $500 million dollars with the deliveries starting from March 2006. The last of the 20 planes would be handed over to Kingfisher Airlines by 2008. The first aircraft from that order was delivered to the airlines on March 31, 2006.[citation needed]
- On November 21, 2005, at the same air show, Kingfisher Airlines placed an order to acquire 30 more A320s in a deal estimated to be worth $2 billion. Engine-making joint venture International Aero Engines will supply the engines for the planes. Deliveries for the planes are likely to start from 2008.[citation needed]
- On January 13, 2006 an Airbus A319 of Kingfisher Airlines was the first aircraft in that class to land on the short older runway at Mangalore Jet Airways has been operating to old Manglore much before since 1998 with a bigger Boeing737-400.[4]
- On the April 24, 2006, Kingfisher signed a contract for five Airbus A340-500 HGWs. The airline plans to use this for its Bangalore-San Francisco . Delivery is expected for 2008.[5]
- Kingfisher has sold two Airbus A321s to Pegasus Aviation Finance in a sale and lease-back deal. Pegasus says in a statement that the two newly-built A321-200s that are being prepared for delivery to Kingfisher will be the first of the stretched A320-family variant in India. Kingfisher already leases one A320 from Pegasus.[6]
- Kingfisher was also the first Indian airline to bring the "Superjumbo" Airbus A380 to India. An A380 of registration F-WWOW arrived on 6 May, 2007, in New Delhi and in Mumbai two days later as part of Kingfisher's second-anniversary celebrations.
- On 20 Jun, 2007, Kingfisher airlines announced to buy Airbus aircraft including an extra 15 A350-800 XWB jets worth $3 billion. The order also includes five four-engine A340-500 planes, 10 A330-200 wide-body models and 20 single-aisle A320-family jets. The order is worth a total of $7.2 billion at list prices. Kingfisher had already ordered five of the original version A350 and has upgraded these orders to the redesigned A350 XWB model
Kingfisher is also operating its A340-500 from August 2008 and will offer non-stop flight between India and the US.
[edit] In Flight Services
Currently there are two classes of service in the Kingfisher domestic network, Kingfisher First and economy. Kingfisher First is available on all Airbus A320 family aircraft and features the largest and widest seat in the domestic Indian skies. Economy class has 32-34 inch seat pitch with footrest.
Kingfisher Airlines in flight product has been granted a 5 star rating from Skytrax.
[edit] Awards
- "NDTV Profit Business Leadership Award for Aviation" - awarded to Kingfisher Airlines by NDTV.
- "Brand Leadership Award" - in the service and hospitality segment against several acclaimed hotels, leading banks and other airlines.
- Economic Times Avaya Award 2006 for Excellence in “Customer Responsiveness” - The prestigious Award is Presented by the highly acclaimed Business Daily, Economic Times.
- "India's No. 1 Airline in customer satisfaction" - Business World
- "Rated amongst India's most respected companies" - Business World
- Rated amongst India’s 25 Innovative Companies - Survey conducted by Planman Media
- ‘The Best Airline” and “India’s Favourite Carrier” - In a Survey conducted by IMB for The Times Of India.
- “Best New Domestic Airline for Excellent Services and Cuisine” - Pacific Area Travel Writers Association (PATWA) the biggest travel writers’ organisation, representing members from 70 countries across the globe, that conducts independent annual surveys across various industries related with Travel and Tourism in order to select the best in each category.
- “Service Excellence for a New Airline” - Skytrax, a UK based specialist global air transport advisor
- “Ranked Third in the survey on India’s Most Successful Brand launch of 2005” - under the Brand Derby Survey conducted by India’s leading business daily - Business Standard.
- “Buzziest Brands of 2005” - Ranked amongst the Top Ten buzziest brands of 2005 & 2006 across product categories, in the survey conducted by agencyfaqs.com and Brand Reporter.
- Best New Airline of the Year” - Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) Award in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East region.
- Rated amongst Top Ten Internet Advertisers - Yahoo India
- Rated amongst the top ten in the Best Television Commercial Jingles - NDTV
[edit] References
- ^ "Directory: World Airlines", Flight International, 2007-04-03, p. 101.
- ^ Kingfisher Airlines Fleet
- ^ Kingfisher becomes first Indian customer for A380, A350, & A330 airbus.com
- ^ Creates History - Airbus A-319 Trial Flight Lands at Bajpe daijiworld.com
- ^ Kingfisher grows its Airbus fleet with purchase of five A340-500 airbus.com
- ^ Air Transport Intelligence news. Oct/2006
[edit] External links
- Kingfisher Airlines
- Kingfisher Airlines Fleet
- Photographs
- Kingfisher Airlines and Toyota F1
- Kingfisher World - The World of Good Times
- kingfisher airline info
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