Air Deccan enters into alliance with Travel Guru

Bangalore, Feb 21: Low cost carrier Air Deccan has entered into a strategic alliance with Travel Guru, an online travel portal, to provide hotel bookings and holiday packages to its passengers.

Air Deccan's website would host the Travel Guru link to enable its passengers select hotel reservations from over 2,500 hotels across the country, including over 1,500 budget/economy hotels, located in 160 cities. These cities cover all Air Deccan destinations.

The alliance was part of Air Deccan's plan to enhance its revenue through ancilliary business which was expected to touch 25 to 30 per cent in three years from the present level of around 9.5 per cent of the total revenue, Air Deccan Managing Director Capt G R Gopinath told newspersons here today.

The ancilliary revenue came from excess baggage, catering and other sources. Within a month, the low cost carrier would also offer travel insurance and it was planning to launch credit card facilities also.

Travel Guru CEO and Co-Founder Ashwin Dhamera, who was also present, said Air Deccan was a leader in offering budget flight options to Indian travellers. The synergy from the tie up both in terms of expertise and resources would create a unique byproduct for the ever increasing league of travellers in the country, he added.

Passengers would have online access to both Air Deccan and Travel Guru contact centres for speedy and accurate response to their queries, he added.

Capt Gopinath said Air Deccan aimed at carrying eight million passengers this year. ''We have done in three years what Indian (Indian Airlines) could not do in 53 years,'' he added.

UNI