India's Air Deccan is seeking to cement its status as the country's main low-cost airline through a massive fleet expansion that will see it adding another 30 Airbus A320s and 30 ATR 72-500s.
The airline, which launched scheduled services in August 2003 serving secondary cities with ATR 42s, expanded last year with the addition of A320s that it is now using on domestic trunk routes in competition with operators Air Sahara, Indian Airlines and Jet Airways.
Late in December it signed a deal with Airbus to purchase 30 additional A320s for delivery from 2007. Together with lease and purchase commitments from deals signed last year, the new aircraft will lift its A320 fleet to 37 of the type. Air Deccan followed the Airbus deal with a major ATR 72-500 order early in January covering 30 new-build aircraft - 15 purchased and 15 leased from the manufacturer. In addition, it committed to leasing another three ATR 42s from the manufacturer and three used ATR 72s.
Bangalore-based Air Deccan, launched by charter company Deccan Aviation, has reported strong growth since starting scheduled services, prompting several other groups to plan low-cost airlines of their own. At least two new domestic low-cost carriers hope to launch this year, one backed by the local United Breweries (UB) Group and the other by conglomerate Wadia Group. The UB Group-owned carrier, to be called Kingfisher after the top-selling beer of the same name, has ordered 10 A320s from Airbus ahead of its launch which is scheduled for April.
Air Deccan said in December that it had agreed to sell 26% to a group of new local and foreign investors for around $40 million, and that funds would be used in part for fleet expansion. New shares will be issued as part of the deal to an investment group comprising local company ICICI Venture Funds and US-based Capital International.
Source: Airline Business
