The Hindu Business Line : Air Deccan to set up engg base in Chennai

AIR Deccan will be locating its maintenance and engineering base in Chennai. It has applied to the Airports Authorities of India for hangar space here, Capt G.R. Gopinath, Managing Director, Air Deccan, said.

Capt Gopinath was talking to reporters at the launch of the airline's service connecting Chennai to Delhi and the North East. He said the airline had decided to locate its engineering base in Chennai, because of the talent and infrastructure available here. The airline will start operations to Mumbai by September 20, he said.

He said that the airline would be inducting 11 more Airbus aircraft over the next 7 to 14 months; of this five will be leased and six purchased. The airline would also be acquiring 5 ATRs by December, which will be based in Delhi and would cover the smaller towns around that area.

Based on the lines of the no-frills carriers such as Ryan Air and Easy Jet, Air Deccan has introduced a fare system which starts at Rs 500 for the early birds and climbs up to 75 per cent of the regular airline fare at the top-end of the spectrum.

The fares will be "dynamic" — a function of demand and supply on any given route. For instance, an afternoon flight maybe cheaper than a morning or evening one, he said.

Capt. Gopinath said that this was not a marketing gimmick, but anyone can make a booking or call the call centre and get a ticket.

The drop-down screens on board these planes will serve a twin purpose. It will offer in-flight entertainment on the long haul flight with the latest news updates (through a tie-up with NDTV) and screen other programmes to the passengers. Advertising on this will generate revenue for the airline.

The airline expects to register revenue of $125 million by March 31, 2005, and carry close to two million passengers.

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