Kingfisher Airlines

Brainchild of flamboyant liquor baron Vijay Mallya, Kingfisher Airlines used have the second largest market share carrying more than 1 million passengers (May 2009) to various domestic destinations in India. Kingfisherairlines has always been at the forefront of innovation, customer services and is one of only 7 airlines to be awarded the Skytrax award 2011.

Kingfisher started in 2003 and is owned by United Breweries Group. Their commercial operations commenced with a fleet comprising of four Airbus A320-200 in a flight from Mumbai to Delhi. After a span of 5 years, King Fisher airlines started its international operations with an international flight from Bangalore to London. With a steady rate of growth, Kingfisher’s operations have grown to serve 63 domestic destinations and 8 international destinations. With the acquisition of the Erstwhile Deccan Aviation, (now rechristened Kingfisher Red Airlines) its fleet strength has grown to 64 aircraft.

Originally known as Captain G.R. Gopinath’s "Deccan Aviation", it was originally the common man’s airline. However, tight financial constraints, a not so good debut at the stock market as well as stiff competition saw Air Deccan notching up significant losses. On 19th December 2007, Air Deccan formally ceased to exist and merged with Kingfisher and was renamed Kingfisher Red Airlines. Post the merger, the service quality levels of the old Deccan (now Kingfisher Red Airways) saw a significant jump. The new look Kingfisher Red changed the check-in staff from being previously outsourced to now being handled in house.