is an
Airline based in
Bangalore ,
India . It was India's first
Low-cost Carrier , connecting 32 cities within India. Its secondary Hub is at
Chennai International Airport ,
Chennai . The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Deccan Aviation .
Air Deccan was established in
2003 and started operations in August that year with regular scheduled flights from
Bangalore to
Mangalore and
Hubli . The following month, it opened a second hub at
Chennai .
Air Deccan became the first private Indian operator to fly
Airbus aircraft when it deployed the first of 5 leased
Airbus A320 s in July
2004 . It was the first airline in India to link second rung cities like Hubli,
Madurai and
Visakhapatnam to metros like Bangalore and Chennai.
A320 at
Hamburg ,
Germany before delivery.]]
Air Deccan has grown rapidly since it first started its air operations in 2003. The growing Indian economy and the increasing number of middle-class people in India has greatly helped its growth. On 25th Jan 2006, Air Deccan has filed a Red Herring prospectus with SEBI Securities and Exchange Bureau of India. Air Deccan plans to offload 25% of its stake in the IPO planned for late March or early April. 24.5 million equity shares of ten rupees each will be divested at a price to be announced later to raise Rs 1100-1320 Cr ($250-300 million) The proceed from the IPO will be used to set up a training centre in Bangalore and a maintenance facility in Chennai.
Air Deccan's phenomenal growth spurred the entry of more than half a dozen low-cost air carriers in
India . Air Deccan faces stiff competition from
Kingfisher Airlines ,
SpiceJet and
GoAir . The growth of these low-cost air carriers has also forced mainstream Indian airliners like
Indian Airlines ,
Jet Airways and
Air Sahara to lower their fares. However, there is a lot of scope for the growth of the airline since the Indian air industry continues to remain largely under-penetrated.
Air Deccan operates services to the following domestic scheduled destinations (as of September 2005):
The Air Deccan fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of
March ,
2006 ):
Total - 29 aircraft
The average age of the Air Deccan fleet is 6.1 years (at April 2006)
- The company has acquired a 30 Airbus A320s, which are to be deployed starting in 2007 .
- The airline has also ordered 30 new ATR 72-500 aircraft (half to be leased), along with 3 second hand ATR 42-500s and 3 second hand ATR 72-500s. Deliveries will begin in May 2005 and be spread over a five year period with 6 to 8 aircraft delivered each year. As of June 2005, two of the 30 aircraft have been delivered.
- On January 3rd 2006, Air Deccan placed a further order of 30 Airbus A320 aircraft taking their total orders of A320s to 62.
- All 62 A320 aircraft will be powered by Rolls Royce V2500 engines
