No time for ‘honeymoon’ after airline deal: Mallya

Mumabi: Liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya, whose Kingfisher Airlines has joined forces with low-cost Air Deccan, said there would be no honeymoon period for the “sweetheart deal.”
Mallya’s UB group bought a 26% stake on Thursday in Air Deccan, throwing a Rs5.5bn ($135mn) lifeline to the loss-making discount carrier in a rapidly consolidating Indian aviation industry.
Mallya called the move a “sweetheart deal,” but Indian carriers face soaring costs and stiff competition, and the flamboyant billionaire said there was no time for a “honeymoon.”
“There is no honeymoon, hiatus or time to review,” Mallya, accompanied by Air Deccan chief G R Gopinath, told reporters here.
“The Kingfisher-Air Deccan group will... offer the best to consumers.”
The agreement, which enables both airlines to trim costs and share resources, triggered an open offer by the Bangalore-based UB Group to Air Deccan shareholders for a further 20% stake in the airline.
That leaves open the possibility of an outright acquisition of the four-year-old airline by the $2bn UB Group, which this month acquired Glasgow-based Scotch-whisky maker Whyte and Mackay.
03/06/07 AFP/Gulf Times, Qatar

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Categories: Air Deccan Jun 2007, Kingfisher Jun 2007