Air Deccan gets in-principle nod to fly abroad
17 Mar 2008
New Delhi: Air Deccan is all set to become the second private airline from India to start international operations, after it receives in-principle approval from the Government in August this year.
The airline becomes eligible for the launch of international services on 26 August when it completes five years of domestic operations, which is in accordance with current Government regulations.
As of now, Jet Airways and its low-cost subsidiary, JetLite (earlier Air Sahara), are the only private carriers allowed to operate international flights.
Government officials have clarified that permission to start international operations is on a stand-alone basis and meant only for Air Deccan. However, as soon as formalities for the merger with Kingfisher Airlines are completed then the right to start international operations would immediately transfer to Kingfisher.
The UB Group, which owns Kingfisher Airlines, bought a 26 per cent stake in Deccan Aviation in May last year. Deccan Aviation is the parent organisation that runs Air Deccan.
UB's buyout of Deccan Aviation is yet to be completed and approved by the authorities.
Given the way the fleets of both the carriers are configured, Air Deccan will very likely operate on routes to the Gulf and South East Asia, while Kingfisher Airlines, with its orders and options for wide-bodied and long-haul aircraft would operate non-stop flights between India and the US west coast.