UDAN propels Air Deccan to the skies again

Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service
Mumbai, December 23 

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Air Deccan, India's first low-fare airline, began its second innings on Saturday as a feeder operator linking Mumbai with Maharashtra's interiors under the central government's UDAN (Ude Desh Ke Aam Nagrik) programme. 

The maiden flight, DN 1320 between Mumbai and Jalgaon 400 km away, was inaugurated by Maharashtra PWD Minister Chandrakant Patil. The 19-seater Beechcraft carried senior officials from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and investors in Air Deccan, according to the airline. 

The inaugural flight was however delayed by more than an hour and took off at 2.55 pm instead of the scheduled departure of 1.20 pm. 

According to Capt C R Gopinath, founder, Air Deccan the airline in its second innings will connect the towns of Jalgaon, Nashik and Kolhapur to Mumbai and Pune before extending operations to other cities across the country. “It’s a sense of great beginning. A sense of being fortunate that Air Deccan is taking off again,” Capt. Gopinath said. 

He added that Air Deccan would soon relaunch operations across the country. 

In its first avatar, the low-fare operator that launched operations with tickets priced at one rupee was taken over by Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher Airlines. Both the airlines ground to a halt after Kingfisher Airlines went bust. 

According to the airline, Air Deccan has bagged 34 routes in the first phase of bidding under the UDAN regional connectivity scheme under which fares are capped at Rs 2,500 for a flight below an hour's duration. 

Sources say, Air Deccan is selling nine seats on the Mumbai-Jalgaon flight at Rs 2,250 each while the rest are being sold at Rs 4,500 each. The Beechcraft 1900D aircraft carries one crew member in addition to 18 passengers.