Kingfisher likely to ground Deccan brand after merger

Mumbai/Bangalore: As the completion of Vijay Mallya-owned Kingfisher Airlines and Capt G R Gopinath-conceived Deccan Aviation moves closer, the common man's (Air) Deccan brand could fly into oblivion. Budget 2008-09
It's a possibility that is being studied by Kingfisher Airlines. A Raghunathan, chief financial officer (CFO), Kingfisher Airlines, told DNA Money: "We will take a call on whether to continue with the Deccan brand after the merger is complete. While we are keen on continuing with Deccan's low-cost business model, we are not very sure if we would want to continue having two brands after the legal merger."
But Kingfisher's desire to operate under a single brand is most likely to face air pockets with the civil aviation ministry closely scrutinising its overseas plans. It has been reported that the airline will have to give up its licences to use Deccan Aviation's entitlements to operate overseas flights under the Kingfisher brand. Several quarters are also raising doubts whether such a big-sized merger would be completed before Deccan Aviation turns eligible (August 26) to fly on international routes and are therefore watching cautiously.
07/03/08 Nirmal John/Praveena Sharma/Daily News & Analysis

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Categories: Deccan Mar 2008, Kingfisher Mar 2008