Kingfisher Red

Kingfisher Red

Air Deccan is now Kingfisher Red

NEW DELHI: Captain Gopinath-founded Air Deccan is now history. UB Group chief Vijay Mallya, who bought around 50% stake in the budget carrier, has rebranded the airline as “Kingfisher Red” from Friday. This removes the name Deccan from the brand as after taking over, Mallya had changed the name to Simplifly Deccan. This change comes exactly five years after the LCC was founded.

The Deccan website announces that from 10 am on Friday, the airline “is now Kingfisher” and tickets will be sold on the latter’s website with the flight code IT. Deccan’s code DN is being discontinued.

While the merged company will be called Deccan Aviation to be entitled to go abroad, the brand will be Kingfisher, under which there’ll be a LCC — Kingfisher Red — and the full service carrier. The company’s name is likely to be changed to Kingfisher once all legal formalities are completed, possibly within this year.

An emotional captain Gopinath said, “It’s like giving away your daughter in marriage and she going with her husband’s surname. This consolidation was done to protect the interest of investors, vendors and employees.”
He emphasized the brand Deccan will live on. “Air Deccan’s model will live through Kingfisher Red and other LCCs. The Deccan brand will remain in three forms. Two companies are 100% owned by me. These are Deccan Express and Logistics that has ordered 10 aircraft and Deccan Budget Hotels that will set up budget hotels across India,” Gopinath said.

The third company — Deccan Charters that deals in helicopters and small planes — is being hived off from Deccan Aviation and would get a separate air operator’s permit. In this company, Gopinath is the CMD, while Mallya will be the vice-chairman. “The King is dead, long live the king,” Gopinath said.

Mallya will use Kingfisher Red as the low cost carrier of his group and the level of service will be improved majorly. The full service carrier will fly on premium domestic and international routes.


Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com