What freighters will they be using? I have seen a report of converted turbo-props though no model was mentioned though they stated they would start with 6 frames.
vabby wrote: I thought when they meant by air cargo they were reffering to belly cargo
No dedicated freighters and 5, not the 6 I previously mentioned. The following is from a subscriber only service so I cannot provide the link;
>>Deccan Aviation yesterday said its board had approved ``in-principle'' a plan to start a cargo carrier. A separate unit will be set up for cargo operations, Gopinath said today. Deccan Aviation may sell shares in the cargo unit to private investors and hold majority stake, he said.
Deccan will convert five propeller planes into freighters and is in talks to lease planes to carry cargo, Gopinath, a former army captain said.<<
Thats it! I am officially calling for votes on whether Gopinathan is a psycho-case or not!!
When DN started with ATR's to Belgaum, Dharwad, Mangalore and other smaller towns, keeping away from competition on mainlines: i actually respected them. In Five years DN could have systematically inducted a fleet ATR 42/72 aircraft and flown to every nook and corner of this vast country, and gained a first movers advantage in those markets...! Instead, they chose to divert their resources on acquiring a fleet of A320's to take on the biggies on the metro routes.
The biggies (IC/9W etc) have fought back, and tix on those full service carriers are often CHEAPER than DN. So obviosuly DN is operating with much lower yields!! And now the freight idea!! This is obviously a confession that even their ATR strategy has gone bonkers.
Gopinathan couldhave been a pathbreaker. Instead he has turned out to be another of those Wahid's and Damanias. Sad!
Praveena Sharma Tuesday, October 31, 2006 22:15 IST
BANGALORE: Accounting engineering may have helped Deccan Aviation Ltd, operator of budget carrier Air Deccan, to show a 61% reduction in losses in its first quarter ended September 30 on a sequential basis. But if the Rs 129 crore ($28 million) income earned from the funds raised from two European banks is taken into account, then its losses are up by 55%.
The airline operator has shown the first tranche of term loan raised through a special purpose company (SPC) by pledging rights to take delivery of 60 aircraft (Airbus) as profit in its books. This has brought down its losses to Rs 43 crore as against the fourth-quarter ended June 30 losses of Rs 110 crore (figures of the last year’s first quarter have not been published).
Its turnover for the same quarter is up 186% to Rs 536 crore from Rs 188 crore (unpublished figure) in the corresponding quarter last year.
Deccan Aviation Ltd chief revenue officer Mohan Kumar says losses shot up during the quarter because of lower load factor, higher operating costs (mainly jet fuel and personnel cost) and intense price war. “For the airline industry, July and August are the worst period. During this period, load factors go down by around 8%. Though, we did register Rs 350 to R450 higher revenue per passenger in the period,” informed Kumar.
The airline is expecting yields to get better in the coming months with lower (ATF) cost, route rationalisation and better pricing regime.
“There is some maturity in pricing as far as the industry is concerned. It is very important that people should be sensible in fixing fares. There are customers at these prices too,” says Kumar.
Of late, the airline has been operating combination flights on various routes with lower loads to avoid unnecessary cash burn. “We are not withdrawing flights but combining them, so that there is better utilisation of capacity,” he says.
Kumar is expecting most new routes to start making profits in the next 9-12 months.
2006-11-01 12:54 Source : Moneycontrol.com VVLN Shastri of Firstcall India Equity Advisor is of the view that one can exit Deccan Aviation.
Shastri told CNBC-TV18, "Aviation space is facing a dirty competition coming in among the peer group players and with the no-frill airlines coming in, even the frontline airline companies are facing a grunt on the part of their topline growth and bottomline and the no-frill guys are expanding the fleet like anything. Even look at Deccan Aviation it is going on expanding its fleet and they are in the process of acquiring additional 60 aircrafts at capex of almost 100 million which they are borrowing and acquiring. That is again adding fuel to the fire of existing accumulated losses."
He further added, "I feel that unless there is a clear profitability emerging out of these airlines, one should not go by the news flows and one should wait for these companies to show a turnaround and then take a call on the part of going forward. So I recommend the investors to exit from this counter and look for alternative avenues."
Disclosure: Our clients would be holding the above stock. I do not have any personal exposure in any of the above stock.
Air Deccan has certainly improved it's customer service. My wife flew down on DN from BOM to BLR today. 24 hours before the scheduled departure, she received a SMS stating that the flight would be leaving 20 minutes before the scheduled departure time. This was followed by a telephone call 12 hours before departure and another SMS 3 hours prior to the departure confirming that the flight was departing on its resked departure time.
Panaji, Nov 4: After a delightful tour in Goa, Miss Universe 2006 Zuleyka Rivera had to undergo four hours of anxiety at Goa airport following a major confusion between airlines company and her hosts.
At the end of the day, Miss Universe had to return to the same hotel at Baga where she had checked in over the last two days and performed in a glittering fashion show last night.
“She was to leave for Bangalore by afternoon’s Air Deccan flight. Her departure was delayed when confusion arose over the number of baggages carried by Miss Universe and her troupe of around 30 people,” airport sources confirmed.
Rivera was leaving Goa after her three-day AIDS awareness tour which included a fashion show at Baga beach displaying summer collection of New York-based fashion designer Sanjana Jon. The fashion show was hosted by F-TV at La Calypso hotel, which was an attempt to garner support in favour of AIDS awareness programme.
Miss Universe and her troupe, comprising 13 international models, were scheduled to leave this afternoon but had to encounter difficulty at the airport when confusion began over the baggage issue. Sources confirmed that Miss Universe’ hosts and Air Deccan staff had confusion over the number of begagges carried which resulted in the delay in checking in and the flight had to leave without a single member of the troupe.
Later, the hosts made desperate attempts to accommodate her in the Mumbai-bound flight. But the Indian Airlines flight which was scheduled to depart later in the evening had no seats available.
In the evening, Miss Universe had to return to La Calypso hotel on Baga beach, where she had stayed for last two days. “She will leave for Mumbai tomorrow,” sources confirmed.
Miss Universe not allowed to board plane by Sudesh Bhosle
Vasco, Nov 4: Miss Universe, Zuleyka Rivera, New-York based fashion designer, Ms Sanjana Jon and 13 other international models, part of 27-member group of IG International, who were in Goa for last two days to spread awareness on AIDS, were stranded at Dabolim airport for over four and a half hours and had to cancel the trip to Bangalore today evening.
The group, including Miss Universe, was supposed to leave for Bangalore by a Air Deccan flight DN 306, at 3.40 p.m, for their next show which was scheduled today.
All the celebrities had their boarding passes however they were stopped by the Air Deccan authorities for carrying excess baggage weighing about 650 kg. The entire group was told to wait at the airport.
They were dropped by Mr Bharat Sheth, chief operating manager, FTV India, at Dabolim airport at around 12.30 p.m from La Calypso Hotel, Baga and thereafter he returned back to his hotel.
The Air Deccan, airport manager, Mr Hussain is said to have refused to allow them to board the flight due to excess baggage. The captain of the flight is also said to have refused to delay the flight and took off at the scheduled time, leaving the Miss Universe and her group at airport.
Speaking exclusively to ‘The Navhind Times’, Sanjana Jon claimed that there was no excess baggage and they had in all 53 bags. However, the Air Deccan authorities claimed that they counted 66 bags.
Sanjana however lodged her complaint on behalf of Miss Universe and her group with the terminal manager, Dabolim airport, Mr Utpal Baruah to initiate action on the Air Deccan authorities for halting them at Dabolim airport without any valid reason.
In her complaint, she claimed that they had to bear the loss of hotel bookings and the loss of canceling programmes at Bangalore.
Miss Universe and her group was to participate in a fashion show at Bangalore tonight and also visit a hospital where HIV+ children are being treated.
Mr Baruah assisted the group by accommodating the celebrities with other airlines to reach their destination.
The terminal manager managed to book three tickets on Indian at around 5.30 p.m for Miss Universe, her bodyguard and Sanjana to go to Bangalore however Zuleyka refused to go as she did not want to stay separate from her group.
The director of IG International Company, New-York, Ms Shashi Abraham claimed that the Air Deccan flight while coming from Bangalore to Goa was delayed for about four hours and all of them had faced hardships.
Meanwhile, Miss Universe and her group are staying for the night at a five-starred hotel in South Goa. They will leave for Bangalore on tomorrow morning.
Sources also said that Miss Universe and her group was fined Rs 60,000 by Air Deccan authorities at Bangalore airport on Thursday for excess baggage weighing to about 950 kg.
My uncle flew DN few days ago from MAA to BOM and his flight was delayed more than 3hrs!!!
He was to reach for a recording at BOM and needless to say he was delayed in his schedule (now the concerned people have promised to offer him either Kingfisher or Jet)
Besides this he said that the lady at the check in counter at MAA behaved horribly and insisted to offload his 35k Guitar! He called the DN airport manager and finally after sometime things were resolved (i was quite surprised to hear that-maybe he was too lucky)
Overall he had a horrible experience and rather too much misbehaviour by the DN staff on ground to him. He was quite displeased.
At this juncture i would like to quote someone rightly said against Air Deccan "Human Dignity" cannot be compromised in the name of "Low Cost".
Capt. Gopinath are you listening? Maybe you'll realise things when its too late
-- Edited by the_380 at 23:56, 2006-11-05
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Light travels faster than sound...thats why people appear bright, until you hear them talk!
This happened to me on an Air Deccan flight from Hyderabad to Chennai (a while back, but this place seems to be rightto post it). The bus to the plane from the terminal was full and I hesitatingly stood thinking they might do two trips. Instead they squeezed everyone in and they asked requested me to stand on the foot board for the short ride!
But it does not seem restricted to India. They try to squeeze in as many as possible even in CDG on those intra-terminal rides.
Celebrating 50 years of Karnataka's formation, low-cost carrier Air Deccan is offering 1 lakh tickets for Rs 9 (plus taxes) for travel upto March 25. Bookings have opened today, and the airline is offering these tickets on all sectors it operates.
To commemorate the 'Suvarna Utsava' (Golden Jubliee) of Karnataka, the carrier has also launched new services to Hampi from Bangalore. The services will commence from November 15.
"The Suvarna Utsava of Karnataka is a matter of pride for us all who dwell or belong to this great state. The government has a slew of projects and celebrations underway for Suvarna Karnataka and we want to take the festivities to the skies," Air Deccan Managing Director G R Gopinath said in a release here today.
The bookings can be made at Air Deccan website www.airdeccan.net or on telephone no 39008888 (prefix city code).
Gopi may end up in a mess. Ppl are beginning to exit DN stocks also.
himmat01 wrote: DN really should stop this practice of Rs. 2.00, Rs. 5.00, Rs. 10.00 fares. Have low fares by all means but there should be a limit to that.
Totally right. LCC doesn't mean local transport bus tickets (even rickshaws cost more than that)
At the most a BOM-DEL ticket can be priced at INR 1,500-2,000 as a low fare rather than Re1 or Rs2 and so on.
Seems more like a joke!
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Light travels faster than sound...thats why people appear bright, until you hear them talk!