Air Deccan, the pioneer of low-cost airlines in India which later merged with now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines, has restarted operations from December 15. Air Deccan has now launched flights on Mumbai-Nashik, Nashik-Pune and Mumbai-Jalgaon routes. The first of the Air Deccan flights will take off from 22 December and fly to Mumbai from Nashik. However all introductory tickets have been sold out the website showed just a few minutes after launch. The tickets which were priced at Re 1 according to an advertisement by the company have been booked within minutes of the relaunch. However potential travelers can still book tickets to travel from December 30, 2017 at a price of Rs 1,310, the website showed.
Initially, Air Deccan will have bases in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Shillong, flying to cities around them. Five carriers, including Air Deccan, had won the rights to operate UDAN flights in the first round of bidding held in March. They were awarded 128 routes.
Air Deccan (airdeccan.co.in) will also add more routes: Mumbai to Kolhapur, Sholapur; Kolkata to Jamshedpur, Rourkela, Durgapur, Bagdogra, Burnpur, Cooch Behar and Agartal; Shillong to Imphal, Dimapur, Aizawl, Agartala; and Delhi to Agra, Shimla, Ludhiana, Pantnagar, Dehradun and Kulla.
Air Deccan unit of Deccan Charters has re-launched with an aim of augmenting the government's UDAN Regional Connectivity scheme, an ambitious program of connecting Tier II & Tier III cities to the nation's map, the company said.
Under the regional connectivity scheme (RCS), also known as UDAN ('Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik'), airfares are capped at Rs. 2,500 per person for an hour's flight to Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities in which the government will provide subsidy for keeping tickets at low prices. It is aimed at improving air connectivity to Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.
