The Hindu Business Line : Air Deccan looks at Kolkata as major `biz hub'

The airline, which launched the daily non-stop flights between Kolkata and Dimapur (via Imphal), also plans to link Kolkata with non-metro cities as soon as airports are developed in these places.

"We have aggressive plans to go into non-metro cities. Currently, 80 per cent of our flights are in non-metro cities and we plan to link Kolkata with cities like Coochbehar, Bodh Gaya, Jamshedpur, Rourkela and Jorhat as soon as airports are ready in these places," Capt. Gopinath told a press conference.

The airline now operates over 70 flights a day to and from Kolkata to 19 destinations across the country.

On an average, Air Deccan carries over one lakh passengers a month from Kolkata against an estimated capacity of 1.25 lakh passengers a month.

The airline, which has five 48-seater ATR Turboprop aircraft and two 180-seater Airbus A-320 aircraft based at Kolkata, has recorded 85-90 per cent passenger load factor in the last six months.

According to Capt. Gopinath, this year the company will utilise its resources to improve internal infrastructure and training to its staff, pilots and engineers.

Expansion plan

As a part of its expansion plan, Air Deccan will acquire a total of 80 aircraft over the next 80 months with one aircraft being inducted every month.

The company plans to raise $50-$100 million through private equity placement to fund its expansion plans.

According to the Air Deccan chief, the airline does not expect to record any net profit in the current quarter. Selling nearly 20,000-25,000 tickets a day, the airline incurs Rs 300-350 loss per seat.

"We are growing at a very fast pace. We have to find out how to continue our growth and get into profitability," he added.

The airline will also set up a separate cargo division with dedicated cargo fleets by the end of the current calendar year.

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