Kingfisher-Deccan gets govt approval to fly abroad

New Delhi: UB Group chief Vijay Mallya's long cherished ambition of his airline flying abroad is going to get fulfilled in a fortnight. The aviation ministry has allowed Deccan Aviation, in which Mallya has a substantial stake and on whose licence Kingfisher will fly abroad, to operate seven flights a week between Bangalore and London (Heathrow).
While they can do so anytime after August 26 when Deccan completes five years of operation and becomes eligible to fly overseas, Mallya is learnt to be looking at a September 3 launch. The ministry has told 13 countries that Deccan will also be an Indian designated international carrier so that the airline can begin making preparations to fly there like getting airport slots and terminal space and arranging booking offices there.
The countries informed were — USA, UK, Singapore, UAE, Thailand, Maldives, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Pakistan.
Mallya is likely to launch flights to all these places only from winter (November) and could go in for a soft launch on September 3.
Kingfisher's international flights, as the Bangalore-London model suggests, have an economy and Kingfisher First classes, with the latter essentially being high end business class at business class fares. The First section will have a stand up bar and there'll be a chef on board. Only British Airways has a nonstop Bangalore-London flight. According to airline websites, Kingfisher one way economy tickets costs about Rs 21,000 while BA is over Rs 25,000.
20/08/08 Times of India

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Categories: Deccan Aug 2008, Foreign Aug 2008, Kingfisher Aug 2008, New Aug 2008