Kingfisher and Deccan to cut capacity by 10 per cent

Bangalore: Kingfisher Airlines and its low cost carrier Simplifly Deccan have decided on a capacity reduction by reducing over 10 per cent of their total daily flights. Additionally, Deccan's 47 expatriate engineers are also being sent home.

Industry sources say that the rising cost of aviation turbine fuel and over capacity on certain sectors are the main reasons behind the capacity reduction. They said both the airlines fly a cumulative 550 flights each day, of which around 28 flights from each of the two airlines have been removed from the schedule across India. Sources say that Kingfisher Airlines' plans to fly international routes from this August stand untouched.

The UB Group, however, has attributed the cut back to the off-season. UB Group sources speaking to the media said that during off-season, some sectors that have multiple flights operating during a day have load factors that can be managed by fewer flights. Hence, the airline would ''explore the option of reducing the frequency of flights, in the interest of optimal network planning.''