The Hindu Business Line : Air Deccan bid to have national footprint — Seeks to convert 1st class train passengers into air travellers

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Air Deccan bid to have national footprint — Seeks to convert 1st class train passengers into air travellers

G. Gurumurthy

Mr G.R. Gopinath

Coimbatore , Nov. 5

THE `no-frills' airline Air Deccan, which seeks to achieve a national footprint sooner than later, wants to convert the entire one million first-class train passengers into air travellers.

"For a country of India's size and population, its aviation industry should have a billion seats if it needed to have a 50,000 flights a day, a level for which it has potential. Even if this ambitious target takes another 30 years or so to be achieved it would be good. Today, the total available seats for the travellers from all the airlines in the country put together is just 50,000 as compared with 20 million railway passengers and that less than 1 per cent only travel by air. The question is that we have to attract more people to the air travel," said Mr G.R. Gopinath, Managing Director of Air Deccan.

The Air Deccan chief, who was here to participate in a private function held in the city told Business Line that his airline with 37 aircraft and 150 flights a day has `deliberately' decided to spread across the country with a view to have a national footprint. "This would be a challenge; but to build a sustainable business in aviation, Air Deccan had to penetrate into smaller cities," said Mr Gopinath. Mr Gopinath, one of the six public/corporate figures who were chosen for receiving the personality for the decade' award for their individual contributions to their chosen field of profession by the city-based KG Foundation-KG Hospital in a function held here on Friday, said Air Deccan had signed for acquiring 78 aircraft — 64 brand new and 14 leased aircraft. Starting from last month, his airline had to get practically one aircraft a month delivered to it.

On new route expansion, Mr Gopinath indicated that carrier would extend its Chennai-Madurai flight to the southern port town of Tuticorin and the new service is expected to be through over the next two or three months.

IPO early next year?

Air Deccan may enter capital market with its initial public offering of equities early next year.

"I hope our IPO would be through some time in February or March next, Mr Gopinath, said. However, he declined to spell out the details of the IPO.

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