Air Deccan may not be disappearing as an airline, at least for the immediate future, but its current light blue offering will be vanishing over the next few months.
New investor (26%, the largest shareholder) Kingfisher Airlines, part of the United Breweries (UB) family of companies, is intent on maximising its well known brand. A change of house style is a clear indication of who controls the airline.
With a fleet of 44 aircraft and a 33% market share, Air Deccan is the second largest Indian domestic operator (after Jet-Sahara).
It is expected that the entire aircraft fleet, livery, cabin crew uniforms and ground handling infrastructure will be restyled in what Indians now refer to as ”Kingfisher Red.”
The brand Air Deccan would also be re-written in red against white background. Out goes the existing bare hand logo to be replaced by the Kingfisher bird and also the UB flying horse.
The amalgamation of Air Deccan continues with joint ticketing counters and where possible a single ground handling operation. The yet to be published final winter schedule will be based on current operations, and is expected to avoid any duplications whilst maximising fleet efficiency.
In another move, Kingfisher has announced a partnership deal with Continental Airlines which is expected to lead to a code-share operation by the end of this year. Continental currently has a daily non-stop flight between Delhi and its New York hub at Newark, which will be joined by a similar service from Mumbai on 2 October.
Kingfisher has five A380s on order with deliveries slated from 2010.