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Ashwini Phadnis

New Delhi , Aug 2

THE country's only low-cost airline, Air Deccan, should soon be in a position to launch flights connecting the country's major metros.

The Air Deccan Managing Director, Capt G.R. Gopinath, told Business Line that the airline had secured place for parking its aircraft at night in Chennai and Bangalore.

"The availability of night parking space at Chennai and Bangalore will help us launch early morning flights from these cities. We hope to launch services by August 13, with the inaugural flight being on the Bangalore-Delhi sector," Capt Gopinath said.

Space for selling tickets as well as Departure Control Gate to issue boarding cards for passengers booked on the flights have been made available at Delhi.

The airline has for some time now been trying to get space at various airports to launch its metro services. Capt Gopinath said that the airline, which has already acquired its first 180-seater all economy-class Airbus A-320 aircraft, plans to utilise the machine for launching regular services on Bangalore-Delhi-Bangalore, Delhi-Mumbai, Mumbai-Bangalore-Mumbai sectors, among others. The airline expects two more Airbus A-320 aircraft to arrive within the next few days, which should help it expand its trunk services.

Air Deccan has already announced an aggressive pricing policy for the proposed metro flights with tickets starting as low as Rs 700 for a one-way ticket provided the passenger makes the booking in advance. While other airlines in the domestic market are not offering a ticket on the trunk routes for Rs 700, in the recent past almost all the airline including Jet Airways, Indian Airlines and Air Sahara have introduced new lower fares on the metro routes for tickets booked in advance.

Deccan also proposes to install plasma television sets in the aircraft.

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