Capt. Gopinath salivates at this idea. To him the A380 is just what he wants. A giant flying bus. Will probaly be the only operator who will order one with 844 seats.
He always says everyone must simply fly and that every Indian must be given a chance to fly. In every interview he gives, he chants this line.
Knowing DN, they might even start A-380s in an all economy configuration on high density routes like BOM-DEL and further reduce the seat cost! Imagine whisking 800 odd passengers at one go!
Will probaly be the only operator who will order one with 844 seats. He always says everyone must simply fly and that every Indian must be given a chance to fly. In every interview he gives, he chants this line.
Slightly off topic, but some months back there was a report that Air Deccan was setting up a subsidiary in Sri Lanka. The idea behind this was that as Sri Lanka's regulations are more liberal than India's they could start flights to various other Asian countries with a hub at Colombo. Anyone know about the status of this?
Meanwhile, the sharp decline in the prices of Deccan Aviation may not really have a dampening effect as the promoters have got (almost)their desired amount (though at Rs 148 per share instead of Rs 175). But whoever has invested in the IPO would be kicking themselves. And DN can now forget about raising fresh capital from the market.Incidentally Jet Airways is still quoting at around 40% discount to the IPO price.
It is highly significant that this decline was going on at a time when the Sensex was climbing sharply every day till mid-May. Perhaps the prospect of the Sahara merger as well as the uncertainty about the US service spooked the investors.
On the Discovery Channel programme "wings" about the A380 they showed Airbus Chief of Sales, John Leahy come to BOM 6 months before EIS of May 2005 and he held meetings with Gopinath and VM.
At the time Gopinath and VM both rejected the aircraft on infrastructural terms and VM ended up buying a A319CJ.
On his ride back home to the Oberoi Leahy said "I came to sell an 800 pax aircraft and sold an 8 pax aircraft, but one day that man[VM] will buy an A380 and that will change the face of India's Aviation."
Slightly off topic, but some months back there was a report that Air Deccan was setting up a subsidiary in Sri Lanka. The idea behind this was that as Sri Lanka's regulations are more liberal than India's they could start flights to various other Asian countries with a hub at Colombo. Anyone know about the status of this?
ATREYEE DEV ROY Posted online: Saturday, July 29, 2006 at 0000 hours IST
NEW DELHI, JULY 28: Deccan Aviation, which operates the low-cost carrier Air Deccan, will start its international operations out of Sri Lanka in October this year. Deccan has chosen its Sri Lankan arm, Deccan Aviation (Lanka) to kickstart its international operations because Indian domestic carriers cannot fly overseas unless they have a 5 year experience of flying in the domestic market. They must also have a fleet-size of at least 20 aircraft.Air Deccan, which launched India’s first low cost airline service in August, 2003, does not qualify on the basis of number of years until August 2008 but with a fleet of 36 aircraft, it already fulfills the other criterion.Initially the services will connect the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo to the southern Indian cities of Trivandrum, Madurai, Coimbatore, Cochin and Trichi.Three ATR turbo-prop aircrafts will be deployed on the route.“We have already applied for the required licences from the government of Sri Lanka. Plans will only be finalised after we visit the country next month,” Air Deccan managing director GR Gopinath told FE.
However, they were not looking at any other international market at present,he said.“The domestic market in India offers tremendous growth opportunities. I am not even trying to compete with other low-cost airlines but with the Indian Railways. If I can lure even 10% of train passengers to airlines industry, it will be a major push for the low cost carriers,”Gopinath said.
At present,Deccan is flying to 56 destinations and claims to be the second largest airline by marketshare, next only to Jet Airways.
Fly High • Deccan chose its Sri Lankan arm, Deccan Aviation tostart its international operations • It will connect Colombo to Trivandrum, Madurai, Coimbatore, Cochin and Trichi • Air Deccan is not looking at any other international market at present