Air Deccan acquires stand-by craft

Mumbai: In a bid to consolidate its market position and reduce cancellations and delays, India’s first low-cost carrier, Air Deccan, now boasts two ‘‘half spares’’ or standby aircraft for its metro route.
Earlier, if a flight was late by several hours, passengers had no option but to wait, as often budget airlines have no standby aircraft.
Air Deccan will now have one aircraft stationed at Delhi, which will service Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi, while the other, at Hyderabad—more centrally located—will cater to Chennai, Bangalore and Mumbai. The Delhi-based craft will be put into service for the first half of the day, the Hyderabad one will function as the standby aircraft and vice-versa. ‘‘This implies that two A320s—they have already arrived—will alternately operate normal scheduled flights through the day,’’ said Air Deccan Vice-President (Operations) Captain Pritam Phillip.
15/05/06 Lekha Agarwal/Mumbai Newsline

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