Indian, Air Deccan both claim to be No 2 airline in India

New Delhi, July 25 (UNI) State-owned airline Indian today strongly rebutted reports that low cost carrier Air Deccan has taken over the second position in the market, asserting that the national carrier continues to be the second largest airline in the country.

Indian's market share in June 2006 was 22 per cent and has been constant despite the shortage of aircraft due to a maintenance backlog, operation of flights on international sectors and operation of special domestic evacuation flights for Lebanon returnees, it said in a statement today after a section of media reported Air Deccan's claim of being the second largest among airlines in India.

Air Deccan has garnered a market share of 21.2 per cent in June, a rise of 1.8 per cent since May 2005 while the market share of Indian dipped to 20.8 per cent in June.

Air Deccan, which started its operations in August 2003, has seen a very rapid growth having flown over 5.8 million passengers since inception. This growth has been attributed to the aggressive expansions undertaken by Air Deccan in the last three years of its operation.

Capt G R Gopinath, Managing Director of Air Deccan, said: ''Air Deccan with its unconventional business model brought the luxury of flying to the common man in India. Dynamic pricing coupled with wide connectivity, rapid expansion of fleet and several other innovative steps enabled us in becoming the second largest airline in the country in such a short period of time.'' This clearly indicates the appetite that the country has for low cost carriers, he said, adding, ''If we were to go by the current rate of growth, we are witnessing, it won't be long before we become the largest people carrier with the largest fleet offering the largest connectivity and the lowest fares in the country. Amid the various changes and challenges that we have been through, overwhelming passenger support is one aspect which has remained constant.'' Recently, Air Deccan placed an order for 96 new aircraft which will be delivered over a period of nine years.

It currently operates to 55 destinations across the country with 265 daily flights. Air Deccan has a brand new fleet of 14 Airbus A-320 Aircraft with an average age of 1.5 years and 21 ATR turboprop aircraft.

However, with the planned increase in aircraft availability, leasing of aircraft and induction of the new fleet of 43 aircraft, Indian expects to substantially increase its passenger capacity and market share in the coming months.

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