The Hindu Business Line : Air Deccan Lanka plans flights to 3 cities in South

Airfares between India and Sri Lanka are set to head southwards with a new low-cost airline — Air Deccan Lanka, set to take wings in the next three months.

The new airline plans to start operating daily flights from Colombo to Chennai, Cochin and Coimbatore within three months. Earlier this week it was given permission by the Sri Lankan authorities to start regular services between Sri Lanka and India.

Air Deccan has a 48 per cent stake in the new company with the remaining being held by two other entities.The airline, that has already allocated a 180-seater Airbus A-320 aircraft for launch of the new flights, is also examining the option of operating two daily flights from Colombo to Thiruvananthapuram and Tiruchi.

Sources told Business Line that the promoters have submitted the business and route plans as also the statutory manuals with the Sri Lankan authorities. When the clearances are received from the Sri Lankan regulatory authorities, the airline will approach the Indian authorities for permission to operate the flights.

"The fares for the new airline will be firmed up in the next few days. The new entity will follow a model similar to the low-cost model followed here by Air Deccan," sources said.

Interestingly, Air Deccan cannot operate on international routes from India as yet. At present the Government rules say that an airline has to operate in the domestic market for five years before it is eligible to fly regular international flights. The airline took to the skies in August 2003 with ATR aircraft that offered regular connections to smaller cities. Exactly a year later, it launched flights on metro routes using an Airbus A-320 aircraft.