Kingfisher Airlines plans to expand its operations to the US with flights to San Fansisco and New York by April next year and has filed an application with American Department of Transportation two weeks ago.
“If everything goes well, we plan to fly to San Fransisco and New York by April 2008,” Kingfisher Airlines Chairman and Managing Director Vijay Mallya told reporters on the sidelines of CII Marketing Summit here.
Under the current Indian norms, an airline needs a minimum of five years of domestic flying experience before it is allowed to fly abroad. Kingfisher, though a two-year old airline, had recently acquired a 26 per cent stake in low-cost carrier Air Deccan for Rs 550 crore which would complete five years of operations next year.
Government has been planning to relax the norm to three years through a revised aviation policy, which is pending before a group of ministers.
Kingfisher is presently the single largest shareholder in Air Deccan and would soon make an open offer to acquire an additional 20 per cent stake in the low-cost carrier.
Mallya said Kingfisher would increase its shareholding in Air Deccan by virtue of an open offer after that “we’ll decide on what shape it will take.”
Rejecting the possibility of rebranding Air Deccan after the takeover, he expressed willingness to increase UB Group’s stake in the no-frills carrier.
“I have no hesitation in increasing the ownership in Air Deccan whether it is at 51 per cent or more,” he said.