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Airlines of the Past-Air Deccan
- Maanav Parikh
- Feb 24
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 3
In today's day and age, low-cost, no-frill airlines like Indigo and SpiceJet seem to be the preferred choice for the price-conscious Indian and why wouldn't it be, it is a cheap, convenient, and effective option. But what exactly was the airline that started the love affair Indians have for low-cost airlines and was our answer to Southwest Airlines. The answer was an airline, starting from a small vision, turning into one of the biggest and most preferred airlines in the few years it operated. This is the story of Air Deccan, India's first low-cost airline. Now, many have seen a brief story of the airline in actor Surya's film Soorarai Pottru, this will be a more insightful read on the airline's history rather than the founder, Captain G.R Gopinath.
Humble Beginnings
The story starts humbly with a vision, a vision of a man who did not want the elite as his customers but instead wanted all Indians to fly and reach for the skies. This man was a former Indian army Captain, GR Gopinath. In the midst of his career in the military and his starting the airline, his venture Deccan Aviation allowed him to gain valuable insights into the airline industry and how most of the airlines catered to the wealthy and elite. Seeing the gap in the market and increasing willingness of the middle class to spend on air travel, the idea of Air Deccan was formed.
The airline took to the skies for the very first time in 2003 flying it's inaugral flight between Bengaluru and Hubbali. Similar to the film, it's planned inagraul flight between Hydreabad and Vijaywada with several ministers on board had to have an emergency landing due to an engine fire!
"For the people, by the people"
Back In 2003, Air Deccan was an airline like never seen before. Having been inspired from the likes of Southwest Airlines, it was the first no-frills airline in India. This ment that services like meals had to be paid for additionally instead of being included. This meant Air Deccan can sell it's tickets for 30% cheaper than it;s competitior making it an ideal choice for the price concious indian traveler. With the low cost of operation, Air Deccan focused on point-to-point style service focusing on connecting tier 2 and 3 cities with each other building a robust route network in the process. The airline was also the first airline to introduce web enabled reservation system and branding inside and outside the aircraft.
The rise
With the perks on offer, Air Deccan experienced a meteoric rise. Having started out with a small fleet of ATR 42s connecting smaller airports, the carrier inducted the A320 to add capacity on key routes. The carrier experienced a period of exponential growth, becoming the third largest airline in 2006. Seeing this, the airline placed massive orders for 30 ATR 42s and 30 A320s. Around this time, competitors like SpiceJet, IndiGo, and GoAir also appeared as well. By 2007, the airline reached another major milestone by becoming the second largest airline in India.
Here come the sharks
Mergers were inevitable in the 2000s Indian aviation scene, everyone wanted the slice of the pie, faster than ever before. In 2007, rumours circulated that the flamboyant liquour baron Vijay Mallaya wanted to purchase Air Deccan and merge it into his own brainchild, Kingfisher Airlines. You see, back in the day an airline needed to operate certain amount of time in order to operate internationally. This need could be sufficed by kingfisher, who was a hurry to fly overseas, if it takes over another airline. Air Deccan, who was facing problems of it's own due to mismanagement and competition, initually denied the takeover. After several rounds of denial, Air Deccan was taken over by Kingfisher in 2008 being renamed Simplyfied deccan and later Kingfisher red. This merger would prove to be a double-edged sword for kingfisher as it would not only bring itself down, but also bring down India's most influential yet stort lived airline.
Legacy
In very few instances it ever so happens that an airline, who just operated for a few years would leave behind a lasting legacy later to be adopted by other airlines. Air Deccan would not only give wings to the common man in India but also lay the groundwork for other low-cost airlines like Indigo and SpiceJet which dominate the aviation sector today.
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