King becomes the first Indian airline to introduce the A321. 

From Kingfisher site:

Source: Kingfisher Airlines 
Wednesday, November 01, 2006 04:06 PM IST (10:36 AM GMT)

Kingfisher Airlines Extends its Fleet by Including Two brand New Aircrafts of the Airbus A-321

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, Wednesday, November 01, 2006 --

Kingfisher Airlines Limited, India’s first Full Service-True Value carrier and Pegasus Aviation Finance Company, the world’s largest privately-held independent commercial aircraft lessor, recently announced the closing of a sale and lease back transaction for two brand new Airbus A-321 aircraft to be delivered to Kingfisher Airlines and to India where Kingfisher Airlines will be the first operator. This complements Kingfisher Airlines’ existing fleet of 10 Airbus A-320s and 3 Airbus A-319s. The Airbus A-321 will be powered by IAE V-2500 engines and will be in a two class configuration consisting of 32 Kingfisher First seats and 119 Kingfisher Class seats. Pegasus Aviation Finance Company already leases one Airbus A-320 aircraft to Kingfisher Airlines.

Kingfisher Airlines brought home its second A321 aircraft on Tuesday. Both the A321 aircraft will be put into operations from November 05 2006. Kingfisher Airlines is the first airline to operate the biggest narrow body aircraft on the domestic circuit.

Under the terms of the transaction, Pegasus will take ownership of the two A-321 aircraft upon delivery from Airbus and Kingfisher Airlines will concurrently lease them from Pegasus.

Dr. Vijay Mallya, Chairman and CEO, Kingfisher Airlines Limited said: “We are delighted to have the opportunity of expanding our relationship with Pegasus who have been excellent business partners. Kingfisher will be the first airline to introduce the Airbus A-321 aircraft in India. Given our growth and market share that we have achieved, I look forward to doing more business with fine partners such as Pegasus”.

Kingfisher Airlines commenced commercial operations on May 9, 2005. All aircraft inducted by Kingfisher Airlines are brand new delivered directly from the factory. In a short span of 18 months, Kingfisher has been voted India’s favourite Airline apart from receiving 3 international awards. Kingfisher currently is India’s fourth largest Airline with a national market share of 9.4%.

Pegasus Aviation Finance Company based in San Francisco is world’s largest privately held independent commercial aircraft lessor with an owned and managed fleet of over 250 Airbus and Boeing aircraft. Pegasus has been the world’s fast growing aircraft lessor over the past 2 years and has been working in partnership with Oaktree Capital Management.

About Kingfisher Airlines

Kingfisher Airlines is India's first and only private airline to receive the prestigious, 'Best New Airline of the Year' award in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East region from Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA). Kingfisher Airlines has also been voted as the 3rd Most Successful Brand Launch of the Year 2005, in the annual Brand Derby Survey conducted by India's leading business daily-Business Standard. In another Survey conducted by agencyfaqs.com and Brand Reporter, Kingfisher was voted as the 7th Buzziest Brand of 2005 amongst 2000 leading national and international brands. More recently, Kingfisher Airlines has bagged the "Service Excellence for a New Airline" award from Skytrax, a UK based specialist global air transport advisor.

Another addition to the list of laurels is the "Best New Domestic Airline for Excellent Services and Cuisine" award from Pacific Area Travel Writers Association (PATWA), the biggest travel writers' organization, across the globe, that conducts independent annual surveys across various industries related with Travel and Tourism in order to select the best in each category. In a survey conducted by IMB for Times of India, 46% of the participants voted Kingfisher Airlines 'The Best Airline" and "India's Favourite Carrier". Lastly Kingfisher Airlines won the “Brand Leadership Award” in the service and hospitality segment against several acclaimed hotels, leading banks and other airlines. Kingfisher Airlines commenced operations on May 9, 2005 with a brand new fleet of aircraft. Kingfisher Airlines offers Full Service at True Value and promises an unparalleled experience to the Indian air traveler. On offer are extra-wide seats and spacious leg room, delicious gourmet meals, international-class cabin crew and a whole host of comforts and delights. Kingfisher Airlines also facilitates doorstep delivery of tickets on guest request. Kingfisher Airlines has further raised the bar by introducing the Indian business traveler to a premium product- Kingfisher First, the finest experience in the Indian skies. For more information on Kingfisher Airlines log on to www.flykingfisher.com . Fly the Good Times with Kingfisher Airlines.

For press backgrounder on Kingfisher Airlines click here

Media contact details

Ritu Bararia - Sr. Manager PR and Corporate Affairs,
Kingfisher Airlines Ltd,
+ 91 93508 66639,
ritu.bararia@flykingfisher.com

Malini Nair - Manager PR,
Kingfisher Airlines Ltd,
+ 91 93242 39730,
malini.nair@flykingfisher.com

Prakash Mirpuri,
IPAN, Mumbai,
+ 91 98210 91715,
Prakash.mirpuri@ipan.com

                  *********************

Kingfisher Airlines Enters into Interline Agreement with Delta Airlines
Kingfisher Airlines to fly Delta Airlines guests arriving in Mumbai to their final destinations within India.

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Kingfisher Airlines, India’s fastest growing airline and winner of several prestigious national and International awards today announced that is has entered an agreement of extended cooperation with Delta Airlines. Kingfisher concluded an extensive interline agreement with Delta Airlines. This agreement would allow Kingfisher Airlines to carry all Delta Airlines guests arriving into Mumbai to their final destinations in India.

The announcement was made at a Grand Luncheon hosted at Manhattan to announce Delta Airlines’ introduction of non-stop flight from New York (JFK) to Mumbai. A grand reception is awaited for the inaugural flight at Mumbai international airport at touch down. The Delta Airlines – Kingfisher Airlines partnership is an extensive partnership including the Interline passage / baggage & SPA. The newly inked partnership will soon implement Interline E Ticketing and through check in of baggage and hopes to conclude a loyalty program bilateral in the not so distant future.

Kingfisher Airlines is commencing 0245AM departures effective December 01st, 2006 from the Mumbai international airport to connect to Bangalore, Chennai, Ahmadabad and Delhi. These new flights will allow guests arriving at the Mumbai international airport to reach their final destinations in India without having to transfer to the domestic terminals or having to wait long hours to connect to flights to their final destinations.

Kingfisher Airlines has added another first to its service by creating a new standard of excellence for arriving international guests in their over all international transit experience. The airline has in one stroke eliminated the twin pain areas of long transit delays and terminal transfer problems experienced by the international traveler. Kingfisher Airlines Limited led by Chairman & CEO, Dr. Vijay Mallya is well known for it superior product quality, in flight service and guest satisfaction. Kingfisher Airlines has grown aggressively in the last 18 months to capture a market share of 10% in India.

Dr. Vijay Mallya, Chairman & CEO, Kingfisher Airlines Limited, “We are very proud to announce our extended cooperation to Delta Airlines in order to offer enhanced convenience to international guests arriving into India. Our service standards are superior to any others in the Indian skies and this agreement will help us interface with our international guest-base and further help our plans to start international operations in the near future.”

Speaking on the alliance in Manhattan, New York, Mr. Manoj Chacko, Global Head (Sales & Commercial) said “The Delta relationship is the beginning of a comprehensive relationship that will soon extend a superior seamless international travel experience to the Delta – Kingfisher Airlines traveler, we hope to tap the global market for travel to India with a unique standard of service & product excellence”

Mr. Sudhan Thomas, Regional Director (North America), Kingfisher Airlines Limited added, “We are committed to building strong multilateral relationships with our international airline partners to carry their guests from Indian gateways to their final destinations, our objectives are to create a superior transit and transfer experience for international travelers arriving on our partner carriers and to build a robust distribution platform for Kingfisher Airlines.”

Kingfisher Airlines which became accredited with Airline Reporting Corporation (ARC) in the United States in July 2006 is available for E-ticketing through all 22,000 ARC accredited travel agents in the region. Kingfisher Airlines will soon be available for distribution in Canada and the Eastern Caribbean countries.

Kingfisher Airlines has also recently concluded super interline relationships with American Airlines, Continental, Air France – KLM, North West and has entered into interline agreements with, Emirates, Cathay Pacific, Air India, Qatar Airways among others. The strategy of building partnerships with international carriers to drive traffic to its domestic network is in line with Kingfisher Airlines’ vision of being the largest private domestic carrier in India by 2010. Kingfisher Airlines will operate 160 daily flights, adding 40 new daily flights to its network with the commencement of its winter schedule starting October, 2006. Kingfisher Airlines most recently included 2 brand new Airbus A-321 aircraft into its fleet becoming the first private domestic airline to deploy A-321 aircraft on the domestic circuit. 2 more A321 aircraft are scheduled for delivery in the month of November.

vivekman wrote:

---

Already inducted two A-321s? When and where did they land and have they started ops yet?

The article also states that two more A321s are to be delivered in November, so that means four in total by the end of this month! IT is going great guns!!

karatecatman wrote:

---

King becomes the first Indian airline to introduce the A321. 

Kingfisher Airlines Extends its Fleet by Including Two brand New Aircrafts of the Airbus A-321

---

---

vivekman wrote:

---

Where are these based and have they started Ops yet?

himmat01 wrote:

---

At the moment IT has two A321s, VT-KFN(c/n 2916) and VT-KFP(c/n 2919). Three more are under construction, C/N: 2927, 2923 and 2924.

---

---

Just watched VT-KFP taxi by a few hrs ago at BOM.Looks great.

regds

MEL

I too hope the rule on Tarmac photography is totally relaxed one day.

regds

MEL

Aseem wrote:

---

do us a favour and buy yourself a camera phone...

---

Kingfisher Plans First U.S. Service To SFO, New York By Steven
Lott/Aviation Daily 11/22/2006 09:25:15 AM Kingfisher Airlines by yearend
expects to apply to the U.S. Transportation Dept. for permission to launch
service to San Francisco and New York, starting in early 2008, The DAILY has
learned.

The Indian carrier launched in May 2005 and has been quickly ramping up
domestic flights but Chairman and CEO Vijay Mallya is still eager to start
long-haul service to the U.S. The carrier previously hoped to start the service
in 2007, but because of aircraft delivery schedules and the timing of government
approval, the start will likely slip to early 2008, Mallya said during a visit
to Washington. "From the day we started, I have had an incessant focus to
connect the U.S. and India nonstop," he said.

Mallya this week hired an unidentified law firm in Washington to represent Kingfisher and told it to file an application for U.S. service within four to six weeks. Starting as early as
January 2008, the carrier will launch service from Bangalore to San Francisco,
which would link the countries' respective high-technology centers. Shortly
after SFO, Mallya wants to start flights from Mumbai to New York.

Kingfisher expects to take the first of five Airbus A330-200s in December 2007 and the
first of five Airbus A340-500s in January 2008. Depending on timing, the first
few weeks of U.S. service may be operated with the A330 with a stop in Europe,
Mallya said. With the A340-500, Mallya claims Kingfisher will be the only
carrier with the equipment to operate the flight nonstop to the U.S. West Coast.
"People will argue that the Boeing 777-200LR can do the same thing, but there
are a lot of [weight and extended twin-engine operations] problems," he said.

Besides winning U.S. DOT approval, Mallya is lobbying hard for the Indian
government to change the rule that requires airlines to be operating for five
years before starting international service. "They've shot themselves in the
foot because they are permitting new startups from all over the world to come
into India," he said. "There are already negotiations with government and it's
almost certain they will review this."

Kingfisher has five A380s on order, which may eventually fly to the U.S., but first deliveries aren't expected until the
end of 2010. Mallya isn't too upset about the A380 delays and said they won't
affect his route planning. He waiting to get the details on the redesigned A350,
but Airbus has already promised him that it won't change the price listed in the
original agreement.

Besides winning government approval for international
long-haul flights, Kingfisher will focus on its aggressive domestic growth in
2007. In the 18 months since the airline's launch, the carrier has grown from
one plane and four daily flights to its current fleet of 22 aircraft and more
than 130 daily flights. The carrier recently added its fourth Airbus A321 and
took its first ATR-72-500. The airline also has A319s and A320s.

Aviation Now

rgds

VT-ASJ

malik wrote:

---

Me too. Other day, sitting inside an Indigo A-320, I missed an almost perfect frame of a SpiceJet 737-800-winglet coming in to land at DEL "on top" of a Kingfisher A-321, also waiting. For a split second I had the wingtip of the Indigo in line with the KingFisher and the SpiceJet plane.

---

Whether its a paying passenger or an employee doesn't make any difference as far as tarmac photos are concerned... i managed to click using some old movie tricks of pretending to do something else and click in that time...

Otherwise if your seen clicking by a security and he tells you " sahab aap toh jan teh hain ke photo lena mana hai fir bhi kyun?" This definately is embarrasing

Else if your not caught then your lucky