Kingfisher Airlines

Kingfisher Airlines

IATA IT ICAO KFR Callsign KINGFISHER
Founded	2003
Commenced operations	9 May 2005
Hubs	Bangalore
Secondary hubs	Delhi Mumbai
Focus cities	Ahmedabad Chennai Cochin Hyderabad Kolkata Pune
Frequent-flyer program	King Club
Member lounge	Kingfisher Lounge
Alliance	Oneworld (future)
Subsidiaries	Kingfisher Express
Fleet size	66 (+130 Orders)
Destinations	71[1]
Company slogan	Fly The Good Times
Parent company	United Breweries Group
Headquarters	Kingfisher House, Mumbai, Maharashtra[2]
Key people	Vijay Mallya, CMD
Website	http://flykingfisher.com

Kingfisher Airlines is an airline group based in India. Its registered office is the UB Tower in Bangalore and its head office is Kingfisher House in Vile Parle (East), Mumbai.^[3][4] Kingfisher Airlines, through its parent company United Breweries Group, has a 50% stake in low-cost carrier Kingfisher Red.

Kingfisher Airlines is one of six airlines in the world to have a 5-star rating from Skytrax, along with Asiana Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Malaysia Airlines, Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines.^[5][6] Kingfisher operates more than 375 daily flights to 71 destinations, with regional and long-haul international services.^[1] In May 2009, Kingfisher Airlines carried more than a million passengers, giving it the highest market share among airlines in India.^[7]

Kingfisher Airlines is also the sponsor of F1 racing outfit, Force India, in which Vijay Mallya also owns.

History

Kingfisher Airlines registered office at the UB Group Towers in Bangalore

Kingfisher Airlines was established in 2003. It is owned by the Bangalore based United Breweries Group. The airline started commercial operations in 9 May 2005 with a fleet of four new Airbus A320-200s operating a flight from Mumbai to Delhi^[8]. It started its international operations on 3 September 2008 by connecting Bangalore with London. It rose to fame in June 2005 when it became the first and only Indian airline share and number of passengers carried. kingfisher airlines is own by Vijay Maliya.

On 7 June 2010 Kingfisher became a member elect of the Oneworld airline alliance when it signed a formal membership agreement. A firm date to join the alliance will be announced once the implementation process is underway, it possibly may take 18 to 24 months.^[9][10].

Statistics

Kingfisher Airlines Statistics^[11]

Year Ended	Passengers Carried	% Change	Average Load factor (%)
April 2007 - March 2008	12,414,336	-	61%
April 2008 - March 2009	10,850,359	12.6%	60%
April 2009 - June 2009	2,851,360	-	69%

Destinations

Kingfisher Airlines serves 63 domestic destinations and 8 international destinations in 8 countries across Asia and Europe. Kingfisher's short haul routes are mostly domestic apart from some cities in South Asia, Southeast Asia and Western Asia. All short haul routes are operated on the Airbus A320 family aircraft. ATR 42s and ATR 72s are used mainly on domestic regional routes. Kingfisher has its medium, long-haul destinations in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Europe. Its first long haul destination was London, United Kingdom which was launched in September 2008. It has plans to launch new long haul flights to cities in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania with deliveries of new aircraft. All long haul routes are operated on the Airbus A330-200.

Codeshare

Kingfisher has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

• British Airways^[12]

Fleet

Current

Airbus A319

ATR 72-500

Airbus A320-200

Airbus A330-200

Kingfisher Airlines' fleet currently consists of ATR 42, ATR 72 and Airbus A320 family aircraft for domestic and short haul services and Airbus A330-200s for international long-haul services. The average age of its fleet as of January 2009 was 2.3 years.

Kingfisher's fleet consists of the following aircraft as of 15 August 2010:

New aircraft orders and deliveries

On 21 July 2004, it signed a MoU with Airbus for four A320-200s with options for eight more^[14]. The first four A320-200s were leased from debis airfinance.

On 23 February 2005, it signed a contract with Airbus for three Airbus A319-100s and firm orders for ten A320-200s with options for twenty more^[15]. There were rumours going around at that time about Kingfisher ordering 150 Airbuses including 100s 200s and 300s for future international flights but is yet to be confirmed by officials.

On 25 April 2005, it took the delivery of its first Airbus A320-200 aircraft^[16] which was used to start operations in 9 May 2005.

On 15 June 2005, it created history by becoming the first Indian airline to place orders for the Airbus A330, Airbus A350 and Airbus A380 aircraft. The order was for five A330-200s, five A350-800s and five A380-800s^[17].

On 21 November 2005, it placed another order for thirty Airbus A320 family aircraft^[18].

On 24 April 2006 at Hannover, it became the first Indian airline yet again to place orders for the Airbus A340 aircraft. The order was for five A340-500s^[19]. However, these A340-500 orders were cancelled in 2008 due to worldwide economic recession which resulted in skyrocketing of petroleum prices across the world in July 2008.

On 20 June 2007 at the 2007 Paris Airshow, it signed a MoU with Airbus for twenty Airbus A320 family aircraft, ten Airbus A330-200s, five Airbus A340-500s and fifteen Airbus A350-800s^[20]. The order for five A340-500s were converted to A330-200s in 2008 after the cancellation of the initial five A340-500 order which was placed in April 2006 at Hannover.

On 14 July 2008, Kingfisher unveiled its first ever Wide-body aircraft, a Airbus A330-200 (registered VT-VJL) at the 46th Farnborough Airshow held in July 2008. Kingfisher's first Airbus A330-200 was widely billed (according to the airline's press release) as the best A330-200 ever built by Airbus^[21].

Services

Cabin classes

Domestic

Kingfisher First

The domestic Kingfisher First seats have a 48 inch seat pitch and a 125 degree seat recline. There are laptop and mobile phone chargers on every seat. Passengers can avail of the latest international newspapers and magazines. There is also a steam ironing service on board Kingfisher First cabins. Every seat is equipped with a personalized IFE system with AVOD which offers a wide range of Hollywood and Bollywood movies, English and Hindi TV programmes, 16 live TV channels and 10 channels of Kingfisher Radio. Passengers also get BOSE noise cancellation headphones.It is the only premium domestic Indian airline.

Domestic Kingfisher First is only available on selected Airbus A320 family aircraft.

Kingfisher Class

The domestic Kingfisher Class has 32-34 inch seat pitch.

Every seat is equipped with personal IFE systems with AVOD on-board the Airbus A320 family aircraft. As in Kingfisher First, passengers can access the movies, English and Hindi TV programmes, a few live TV channels powered by DishTV and Kingfisher Radio. The screen is controlled by a controller-console on the seat armrest. Earcup headphones are provided free of cost to all passengers. The default channel shows, alternating every few seconds, The airplane's ground speed, outside temperature, altitude, distance and time to destination; the position of the aircraft on a graphical map and one or more advertisements.

Passengers are served meals on most flights. Before take-off, passengers are served bottled Lemonade.

On-board the ATR 72-500s there are 17 colour LCD drop-down screens mounted along with loudspeakers for audio in the cabin overhead, a head-end unit to handle CDs and DVDs, and a crew control panel. The screens measure 12.7 cm by 9.3 cm, weigh 0.2 kg each and are spaced every two or three seat rows along both sides of the cabin.

Economy class meal on-board a Kingfisher Airlines domestic flight

Kingfisher Red

After Kingfisher Airlines acquired Air Deccan, its name was changed to Simplifly Deccan and subsequently to Kingfisher Red. Kingfisher Red is Kingfisher Airline's low-cost class on domestic routes. Passengers are given complimentary in-flight meals and bottled water. A special edition of Cine Blitz magazine is the only reading material provided.

Kingfisher Airlines is the first airline in India to extend its King Club frequent flyer program to its low-cost carrier as well. Passengers can earn King Miles even when they fly Kingfisher Red, which they can redeem for free tickets to travel on Kingfisher Airlines or partner airlines.

International

Kingfisher First

The international Kingfisher First has full flat-bed seats with a 180 degree recline, with a seat pitch of 78 inches, and a seat width of 20-24.54 inches.^[23] Passengers are given Merino wool blankets, a Salvatore Ferragamo toiletry kit, a pyjama to change into, five-course meals and alcoholic beverages. Also available are in-seat massagers, chargers and USB connectors.

Every Kingfisher First seat has a 17 inch widescreen personal television with AVOD touchscreen controls and offers 357 hours of programming content spread over 36 channels, including Hollywood and Bollywood movies along with 16 channels of live TV, so passengers can watch their favorite TV programmes live. There is also a collection of interactive games, a jukebox with customisable playlists and Kingfisher Radio. Passengers are given BOSE noise cancellation headphones.

The service on board the Kingfisher First cabins includes a social area comprising a full-fledged bar staffed with a bartender, a break-out seating area just nearby fitted with two couches and bar stools, a full-fledged chef on board the aircraft and any-time dining. A turn-down service includes the conversion of the seat into a fully-flat bed and an air-hostess making the bed when the passenger is ready to sleep.

Both Kingfisher First and Kingfisher classes feature mood lighting on the Airbus A330-200 with light schemes corresponding to the time of day and flight position.

Kingfisher Class

The international Kingfisher Class seats offer a seat pitch of 34 inches, a seat width of 18 inches and a seat recline of 25 degrees (6 inches). Passengers get full length modacrylic blankets, full size pillows and business class meals. There are in-seat chargers and USB connectors.

Each Kingfisher Class seat has a 10.6 inch widescreen personal television with AVOD touchscreen controls. The IFE is similar to that of the international Kingfisher First class.

In-flight entertainment

Kingfisher's IFE system is the Thales TopSeries i3000/i4000 on-board the Airbus A320 family aircraft, and Thales TopSeries i5000 on-board the Airbus A330 family aircraft provided by the France-based Thales Group^[24].

Kingfisher was the first Indian airline to have in-flight entertainment (IFE) systems on every seat even on domestic flights. All passengers were given a "welcome kit" consisting goodies such as a pen, facial tissue and headphones to use with the IFE system. Now, passengers of kingfisher class are not given "welcome kits" but as mentioned earlier, a complimentary bottle of lemonade and earphones for use with the IFE are still given. Initially, passengers were able to watch only recorded TV programming on the IFE system, but later an alliance was formed with Dish TV to provide live TV in-flight.^[25] And in a marked departure from tradition, Kingfisher Airlines decided to have an on-screen safety demonstration using the IFE system, however the conventional safety briefing by the flight attendants still exists on many flights.

Kingfisher Lounge

Kingfisher Lounges are offered to Kingfisher First passengers, along with King Club Silver and King Club Gold members. Lounges are located in:

• Bangalore
• Chennai
• Cochin
• Delhi
• Kolkata
• Hyderabad
• Mumbai

King Club

The Frequent-flyer program of Kingfisher Airlines is called the King Club in which members earn King Miles every time they fly with Kingfisher or its partner airlines, hotels, car rental, finance and lifestyle businesses. There are four levels in the scheme: Red, Silver,Gold and Platinum levels. Members can redeem points for over a number of schemes. Platinum, Gold and Silver members enjoy access to the Kingfisher Lounge, priority check-in, excess baggage allowance, bonus miles, and 3 Kingfisher First upgrade vouchers for Gold membership. Platinum members get 5 upgrade vouchers.

Awards and achievements

Adrian Sutil is pursued by Lewis Hamilton at the Malaysian GP. Kingfisher is a sponsor of Force India

• Kingfisher Airlines frequent flyer programme, King Club has won Top Honors at the 21st Annual Freddie Awards in the Japan, Pacific, Asia and Australia region.
  • King Club has won the Freddie Awards 2008 in the following categories:
    • Best Bonus Promotion
    • Best Customer Service
    • Best Member Communications (First Runner-up)
    • Best Award Redemption (First Runner-up)
    • Best Elite Level (Second Runner-up)
    • Best Website (Second Runner-up)
    • Program of the Year (Second Runner-up)
• Kingfisher Airlines has received three global awards at the Skytrax World Airline Awards 2010
  • Named Best Airline In India / Central Asia; Best Cabin Crew – Central Asia.
  • Kingfisher RED named Best Low Cost Airline in India / Central Asia.
• NDTV Profit Business Leadership Award for Aviation.
• India's only 5 Star airline, rated by Skytrax and 6th airline in the world.
• Rated India's Second Buzziest Brand 2008 by The Brand Reporter.
• Ranked amongst India's Top Service Brands of 2008 by Pitch Magazine.
• Voted as India's Favourite Airline.
• Rated as Asia Pacific's Top Airline Brand.
• Brand Leadership Award.
• Economic Times Avaya Award 2006 for Excellence in Customer Responsiveness.
• India's No. 1 Airline in customer satisfaction by Business World.
• Rated amongst India's most respected companies by Business World.
• Rated amongst India's 25 Innovative Companies by Planman Media in 2006.
• 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 by Pacific Area Travel Writers Association (PATWA).
• Service Excellence 2005-2006 for a New Airline by Skytrax.
• Ranked Third in the survey on India's Most Successful Brand launch of 2005 under the Brand Derby Survey conducted by Business Standard.
• Buzziest Brands of 2005 by agencyfaqs and The Brand Reporter.
• Rated amongst the Top Ten Internet Advertisers by Yahoo.
• Rated amongst the top ten in the Best Television Commercial Jingles by NDTV.
• Best New Airline of the Year Award for 2005 by Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) Award in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East region.

Accoding to Kingfisher^[26]

Accidents and incidents

• On 10 November 2009, Flight 4124 operated by ATR 72-212A VT-KAC, skidded off the runway after landing at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport. The aircraft suffered substantial damage but all 46 passengers and crew escaped unharmed.^[27]

See also

• Vijay Mallya
• Kingfisher Red
• United Breweries Group

References

External links

• Official website
• Kingfisher World - The World of Good Times