Air Deccan celebrates 2nd slot with 200,000 low-fare tickets
28 Jul 2006
Air Deccan has, meanwhile, upstaged government-owned Indian (Indian Airlines), its nearest competitor, to become the second largest airline in the country after Jet Airways. Air Deccan has a 21.2-per cent market share in June, up 1.8 per cent from May 2005 while the market share of Indian had dipped to 20.8 per cent.
Air Deccan has seen phenomenal growth in traffic, having flown over 5.8 million passengers since its inception in August 2003.
The airline has the largest network in India today covering 55 airports plying 265 flights a day. The airline currently operates a brand new fleet of 15 Airbus A320 Aircraft with an average age of 1.5 years and 20 ATR turboprop aircraft. Air Deccan has placed orders for 96 new aircraft, which will be added to its current fleet in the next eight years.
This phenomenal growth has been attributed to the aggressive expansions undertaken by Air Deccan in the last three years of its operation.
"Air Deccan with its unconventional business model brought the luxury of flying to the common man in India. Dynamic pricing coupled with wide connectivity, rapid expansion of fleet and several other innovative steps enabled us in becoming the second largest airline in the country in such a short period of time. This clearly indicates the appetite that the country has for low cost carriers, and, if we were to go by the current rate of growth we are witnessing, it won't be long before we become the largest people carrier with the largest fleet offering the largest connectivity and the lowest fares in the country. Amidst the various changes and challenges that we have been through, overwhelming passenger support is one aspect which has remained constant," said Capt. GR Gopinath, managing director of Air Deccan.