Kingfisher Red to soon touch S-E Asian skies

Bangalore: Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines will face-off with Asia’s budget airline pioneer Tony Fernandes-led AirAsia in South-East Asian
skies. India’s beer-to-airline billionaire is mulling introduction of his value offering, Kingfisher Red, on S-E Asian routes, even as AirAsia kicked off operations to India—flying into Trichy from its base in Kuala Lumpur.Sources said Kingfisher Red, formerly Air Deccan, was planning to fly on Chennai-Kuala Lumpur route, but is yet to apply to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. It is believed that Kingfisher Red is charting a distinct strategy on international flights, and is seen evaluating several sectors connecting India to S-E Asia and M-E.
Meanwhile, Tony Fernandes, who is also a personal friend of Mr Mallya, is eyeing aggressive expansion in the Indian market. The Malaysian airline tycoon also plans to fly to Chennai, along with other destinations like Madurai, Cochin and Coimbatore in the next one-and-a-half years. AirAsia-X, the long haul subsidiary of AirAsia, plans to connect New Delhi, Bombay, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Kolkata subsequently. Speculation has also been gaining ground that Mr Fernandes could be interested in buying equity stake in Indian carriers once the government permission falls in place.
07/01/09 Swagata Gupta & Boby Kurian/Economic Times

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Foreign Jan 2009, Kingfisher Red Jec 2009, New Jan 2009