Kingfisher to fly from Bangalore to Dubai from next month

DUBAI: Liquor baron Vijay Mallya-led Kingfisher Airlines will start flying daily from India's technology hub Bangalore to Dubai from June 25.
The flight, using an A320 aircraft, will take off from Bangalore at 6.30 pm and land in Dubai at 8.55 pm local time while the return flight will leave Dubai at 11.30pm and reach Bangalore at 4.45 am, the airline's officials told the media during the Arabian Travel Market held recently here. The launch was planned for March but had to be delayed because of the global economic slowdown, officials said, adding Kingfisher also plans to start flights to Abu Dhabi
and a couple of other destinations in the Gulf region. The airline has expanded its route network significantly since acquiring Air Deccan in 2007.

Kingfisher has 87 aircraft in its fleet and has 438 flights daily to 72 destinations in India and abroad. It operates 27 direct flights to Indian destinations from Bangalore. Indian carriers have added several services between India and the UAE this year.

Jet Airways last month launched daily direct services between Chennai and Dubai and also increased frequency on the Dubai-Mumbai route. Air India Express launched Tiruchirapally and Chennai routes from Abu Dhabi International Airport.
Source: Economic times

Indian Cargo Airline Deccan 360 Launches

An express logistics venture--Deccan 360--launched today at Delhi International Airport.
Founded by Capt. Gopinath, who launched India's first budget carrier, Air Deccan "is the first to create a hub-and-spoke distribution model in the express industry in India."
Starting May 18, Deccan 360 will launch its express long-haul and freight service operations across multiple industry verticals such as automotive spare parts, textiles, pharmaceuticals, machinery and heavy equipment, banking and organized retail with an Airbus A310 freighter on the Delhi-Mumbai-Chennai-Hong Kong-Dubai route offering domestic as well as international express cargo services to freight forwarders.
Deccan 360 has appointed Jude Fonseka, formerly with FedEx, as CEO of the new cargo venture. It has ordered two more A310 freighters along with six small feeder ATR-42s for use on its hub-and-spoke model.
Given the tight economic climate, the venture will need further investments. Gopinath said he had invested $25 million and would divest an equity stake in the next three to four months to bring in an additional $30 million.
An initial contender, SIA Cargo says it has had discussions in the past with Deccan Cargo Express Logistics on possible investment in DCEL. "However, given the current severe downturn in the air cargo industry, the top priority for SIA Cargo is to manage the immediate business challenges. Therefore, SIA Cargo has decided not to participate in investment in DCEL," said spokesman Nicholas Ionides.
India's economic development will require the support of dedicated cargo cities with state-of-the-art cargo terminals, cold storage facilities and electronic data interchange systems. Work has already begun on constructing a facility on 100 acres at the multi-modal cargo hub in Nagpur, which will handle a majority of the shipments moving on the Deccan 360 network.
AviationWeek recognized Gopinath in 2007 for his achievements in the commercial air transport category for starting India's first budget airline.
While India's international and domestic cargo market grew by 10% in 2006, accounting for 1.5 million tons of cargo, commercial passenger airplanes added to inventories also have added more cargo carrying capacity on its belly space. A Boeing 777 version, for instance, can carry up to 20 tons of cargo.
Photo credit: Deccan 360

Source: Aviation Week