NEWS

One big chunk missing in the airline jigsaw puzzle crafted by Vijay Mallya is that Kingfisher still does not operate a flight to the US, one of the busiest and most lucrative routes. The recent acquisition of low-cost player Air Deccan, Mallya hopes, will fill the blank. On May 30, 2007, Mallya’s UB Group picked up a 26 per cent stake in Deccan Aviation at Rs 550 crore. Subsequently, it invested an estimated Rs 1,000 crore for a controlling stake in Deccan Aviation which owns the Air Deccan brand. According to DGCA norms, an airlines can run an international carrier only if it completes five years in the domestic run. Kingfisher, which commenced operations in May 2005, falls short of the stipulated time period. Air Deccan, on the other hand, completes five years in August this year. However, if thwarted in his ambition, Mallya is ready with Plan B.

VIEWS

Dr Vijay Mallya must be chomping at the bit like a racehorse denied a run in the grand Derby of the airlines’ international circuit. With the Ministry of Civil Aviation clipping the wings of domestic flights keen on commencing flights abroad by raising the five-year bar, Mallya is quite understandably peeved.

Internationally celebrated liquor baron and owner of the United Beverages Group, Mallya formed the Kingfisher Airline, naming it after his world famous brand of beer. The airline started operations on May 9, 2005, coinciding with his son Siddharth’s 18th birthday. In the short span of less than three years since it was launched, Kingfisher Airlines has redefined the whole experience of flying, emerging as one of the topmost market leaders in India’s booming aviation market. Dr Mallya’s personal and deep involvement in managing the airline’s affairs is palpable in every field—from selection of aircraft and flight crews to on-time operation and hospitality. Further, Kingfisher has raised the bar by introducing a whole host of product and service innovations.

Within a month of its launch in 2005, Kingfisher became the first Indian airline to order the Airbus A380. It is also the airline which boasts of an all new aircraft fleet. While it awaits the arrival of A380 Super Jumbos, five of which are on order along with five Airbus A350-800 and five A330-200s for international flights, it has already amassed a large mixed fleet of A320 family aircraft and ATRs for domestic operations spanning 32 destinations. The popularity of the airline can be gauged from the fact that in the first quarter of 2008 ending March 31, the carrier’s combined share along with Air Deccan, which it recently acquired, has risen to 29.1 per cent of the total domestic passenger volume, giving the other major but much older airline Jet Airways/JetLite a neck-to-neck competition. The niche the airline has carved for itself is evident given that in the short time span since its inception, it has been conferred over 30 awards for excellence in different fields of airlines’ operations.