Kingfisher Airlines

Following its merger with Deccan, Kingfisher Airlines today covers all segments of air travel from low fares to premium fares and offers the maximum number of flights by any single airline network in India.

Kingfisher airlines, based in bangalore and owned by Dr Vijay Mallya of United Breweries Group (UB Group), started its operations on May 9, 2005 with a fleet of four Airbus A320 aircraft. It is India’s first and only five-star airline and also the only one to offer a premium first-class service on domestic routes. The destinations covered by Kingfisher Airlines are Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Goa, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Cochin, Guwahati, Kolkata, Pune, Agartala, Dibrugarh, Mangalore and Jaipur. Kingfisher Airlines recently launched a daily direct flight connecting Mumbai to Chandigarh, besides also launching two daily direct flights between Mumbai and Ahmedabad. The airline also has plans to introduce services on five other routes. For the first time, it will offer a daily same day return flight between Delhi and Chandigarh and a daily direct flight between Delhi and Goa. It will also add one more daily direct flight between Delhi and Hyderabad, taking the total number of daily flights on that route to three.

With the launch of these new services, Kingfisher Airlines now has 250 departures a day and serves 39 destinations with a fleet of 40 brand new aircraft. As of now, Kingfisher operates only on domestic routes, but it has announced plans to commence flights to the US with Airbus A340 and Airbus A380 from August this year. With the merger of Kingfisher Airlines and Deccan, the airline covers all segments of air travel from low fares to premium fares and offers the maximum number of flights compared to any other offered by any single airline network in India. The combined entity today connects 69 cities and has 537 daily departures.

The airline offers several unique services to its customers. These include personal valet at the airport to assist in baggage handling and boarding, exclusive lounge with private space, refreshments and music at the airport, audio and video on-demand, with extra-wide personalised screen in the aircraft, sleeperette seats with extendable footrests, and three-course gourmet cuisine. The key luxury component is its In-Flight Entertainment System—a first among Indian airlines. Besides being the first and only airline to offer in-flight entertainment on every seat in the domestic skies, Kingfisher Airlines also offers live TV with several channels, including news, sports and entertainment.