The Hindu Business Line : Air Deccan takes delivery of Airbus A-320

THE dawn of low-cost long distance flying in India may be round the corner. On Thursday, Air Deccan took delivery of the first leased Airbus A-320 aircraft, which the airline plans to use to launch low-cost flights between the major metros. The first leased A-320 aircraft is expected to touch down in Bangalore on Friday.

"We have accepted the first Airbus aircraft and paid the insurance this morning. It is now being flown to India. The other two Airbus aircraft are also ready and will be accepted in a phased manner with a gap of few days between each delivery," the Air Deccan Managing Director, Captain G. R. Gopinath, told Business Line.

The airline hopes to be able to launch services on the metro routes, beginning with a flight to Delhi by "July 31 or August 1," Captain Gopinath said.

"Although the pilots have already been trained at the Airbus facility in France, they need to operate in India on the new aircraft before we can launch regular flights. This is likely to take 10-15 days. So we hope to launch the metro flights by the end of the month," Captain Gopinath said.

Although the airline is yet to be given counter space in Delhi, officials are hopeful of getting it in time for launching the maiden metro flight. The airline is looking at the possibility of getting counter space in the IA terminal at Delhi airport.