The Hindu Business Line : Air Deccan cool on low fares

Hyderabad March 13 Air Deccan, the Bangalore-based low-cost carrier, foresees further pressure on the fares in the aviation industry, with a number of airline companies deploying more aircraft in the next few months.

The industry has already complained against the increasing burden of low fares. According to an estimation, the industry loses Rs 2,000 crore every year because of under-pricing of tickets and increasing fuel prices.

Downward pressure

"There could be downward pressure with the prospect of more aircraft coming in," Mr Samyukth Sridharan, Chief Revenue Officer and Head (Marketing), said.

Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, he said the fares had already reached rock-bottom.

He, however, said that his company would not be under pressure as it covered a host of destinations that were not covered by its competitors. "We are all about connecting India and not just Delhi and Mumbai. We operate to certain destinations that were ignored by our competitors for years," he said.

Break-even

Mr Sridharan said the company was well on its schedule to achieve break-even by 2008-09. "We are doing well on load factors. The arrival of aircraft we ordered for is on schedule. In the last 18 months, we have added 23 aircraft," he said.

Mr Sridharan was here to announce the launch of Air Deccan's daily flights linking Hyderabad to Bhubhaneshwar via Delhi, and Visakhapatnam to Bhubhaneshwar. Bookings on these sectors are open. The services would start on March 26.

The airline would operate an Airbus A-320 for Hyderabad-Bhubhaneshwar sector and an ATR aircraft for the second sector.