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Kingfisher Airlines
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Kingfisher Airlines is an airline based in Bangalore, India. It operates 218 flights a day and has a network of 38 destinations, with regional and long-haul international services. Its main bases are Bengaluru International Airport, Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Rajiv Gandhi International Airport and Indira Gandhi International Airport. Kingfisher Airlines, through one of its holding companies United Breweries Group, has 50% stake in low-cost carrier Kingfisher Red, formerly known as Air Deccan.
Kingfisher is one of six airlines in the world to have a five-star rating from Skytrax, along with Asiana Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airways.
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Encyclopedia
Kingfisher Airlines is an airline based in Bangalore, India. It operates 218 flights a day and has a network of 38 destinations, with regional and long-haul international services. Its main bases are Bengaluru International Airport, Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Rajiv Gandhi International Airport and Indira Gandhi International Airport. Kingfisher Airlines, through one of its holding companies United Breweries Group, has 50% stake in low-cost carrier Kingfisher Red, formerly known as Air Deccan.
Kingfisher is one of six airlines in the world to have a five-star rating from Skytrax, along with Asiana Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airways. According to a survey held in September 2008, Kingfisher was the most admired airline brand in the Asia-Pacific region. In July 2008, Kingfisher's share of Indian aviation market stood at 14.3% while its sister carrier Air Deccan's share stood at 13.5%.
Kingfisher chairman Vijay Mallya and his Jet Airways counterpart Naresh Goyal announced the alliance after a meeting on 13 October 2008 in Mumbai. The alliance will include code-sharing on both domestic and international flights, joint fuel management to reduce expenses, common ground handling, joint utilisation of crew and sharing of similar frequent flier programmes.
On 12 January 2009, Kingfisher Airlines announced its alliance with Hilton HHonors the guest rewards program for the more than 3,000 Hilton Hotels of Hilton Hotels Corporation worldwide. The new alliance allows members of the King Club, frequent flyer programme of Kingfisher Airlines, to earn both King Miles and Hilton HHonors points when they stay at Hilton Hotels.
History
The airline started operations on 9 May 2005, following the lease of four Airbus A320-200 aircraft. As of July 2007, Kingfisher started operating domestic routes. It has announced plans to start flights to the USA with Airbus A340-500 and Airbus A380-800 aircraft. The airline is owned by the United Breweries Group. In October 2007, the airline announced Deepika Padukone as its brand ambassador. In September 2008, Kingfisher announced its plans to raise US$100 million through equity.
Destinations
Kingfisher Airlines, along with Kingfisher Red, is the second largest private airline in India, behind Jet Airways and its subsidiary JetLite. Together with its sister airline Kingfisher Red, formerly known as Air Deccan, it operates 570 flights daily connecting 74 Indian cities.
On 3 September 2008, Kingfisher Airlines began its international operations by connecting Bangalore to London Heathrow Airport.
International Routes Operated By Kingfisher:-
Bangalore-London Heathrow Airport (began 3 September 2008)
Mumbai-London Heathrow Airport (began 5 January 2009)
Bangalore-Colombo (began 19 January 2009)
Chennai-Colombo (began 19 January 2009)
Bangalore-Dubai (expected to begins 12 April 2009)
Kingfisher Airlines plans to add several destinations such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Dhaka and Malé in 2009.
Kingfisher Red is expected to chart out its own strategy to compete with other Asian budget airlines like the Kuala Lumpur based AirAsia.
Fleet
Kingfisher Airlines fleet currently consists of the ATR 42,ATR 72 and Airbus A320 Family for domestic andshort haul services and Airbus A330 for international long laul services.
The fleet consists of the following aircraft as of 9 February 2009:
Kingfisher Airlines Fleet | Aircraft | In Service | Orders | Options | Passengers
(Kingfisher First/Kingfisher Class) | Routes | Notes |
|---|
| ATR 42-500 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 48 (0/48) | Domestic Short Haul | Operated by Kingfisher Red, will be leaving the fleet after induction of new ATR 72-500s. | | ATR 72-500 | 27 | 41 | 20 | 66 (0/66)
72 (0/72) | Domestic Short Haul | Including A/C operated by Kingfisher Red. Order placed in 2005 Dubai Air Show, initial order was subsequently increased in February 2006 for 15 additional from the 20 original ATR 72-500 and 20 options | | Airbus A319-100 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 144 (0/144) | Short to Medium Haul | | | Airbus A320-200 | 26 | 96 | 0 | 174 (0/174)
134 (20/114)
180 (0/180) | Short to Medium Haul | Includes A320s operated by Kingfisher Red,
leased Airbus A320-200s operated by Air Deccan phased out.
3 grounded by DGCA. | | Airbus A321-200 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 199 (0/199)
151 (32/119) | Short to Medium Haul | | | Airbus A330-200 | 5 | 15 | 0 | 217 (30/187) | Medium Long Haul | 5 orders placed in 2005 Dubai Air Show, Additional 10 orders placed in 2007 Paris Air Show, 5 additional Airbus A340-500 orders converted to Airbus A330-200s | | Airbus A340-500 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 237 (36/201) | Non-Stop Flights to the United States | 5 orders placed in 2006 at Hanover , additional 5 orders placed in 2007 Paris Air Show, 5 additional orders converted to Airbus A330-200s. | | Airbus A350-800 | 0 | 20 | 0 | ??? (??/???) | Ultra Long Haul | 5 orders placed in 2005 Dubai Air Show, additional 15 orders placed in 2007 Paris Air Show . | | Airbus A380-800 | 0 | 5 | 5 | ??? (??/??/???) | Ultra Long Haul | Order Placed in 2005 Dubai Air Show.
Deliveries starting 2014. | | Total | 75 | 179 | 25 | | | |
Kingfisher Airlines has an average fleet age of 2.2 years as at January 2009.
- On 18 February 2005, Kingfisher Airlines signed a contract with Airbus for 3 Airbus A319-100 aircraft, adding to the 10 Airbus A320-200 aircraft (plus 20 options) ordered in January 2005. The first of the A319-100s were delivered in December 2005, complementing the A320-200s on routes to smaller cities in India.
- On 15 June 2005, Kingfisher announced orders for the Airbus A380-800. It placed orders for 5 Airbus A380-800s, 5 Airbus A350-800 aircraft and 5 Airbus A330-200 aircraft.
- On 20 November 2005, at the Dubai Air Show, Kingfisher Airlines announced that it would be buying 20 ATR 72-500s (plus 15 options). The deal is estimated to be worth US$500 million with the deliveries starting from March 2006. The last of the 20 planes would be handed over to Kingfisher Airlines by 2008. The first aircraft from that order was delivered to the airlines on 31 March 2006 .
- On 21 November 2005, at the Dubai Air Show, Kingfisher Airlines placed an order to acquire 30 more Airbus A320s in a deal estimated to be worth US$2 billion. Engine-making joint venture International Aero Engines will supply the engines for the planes.
- On 13 January 2006 an Airbus A319-100 of Kingfisher Airlines was the first aircraft in that class to land on the short older runway at Mangalore. Jet Airways has been operating to old Manglore much before since 1998 with a bigger Boeing 737-400.
- On the 24 April 2006, Kingfisher signed a contract for 5 Airbus A340-500s. The airline plans to use this for its Bangalore-San Francisco.
- Kingfisher has sold 2 Airbus A321-200s to Pegasus Aviation Finance Company in a sale and lease-back deal. Pegasus says in a statement that the two newly-built A321-200s that are being prepared for delivery to Kingfisher will be the first of the stretched A320 Family variant in India. Kingfisher already leases one Airbus A320-200 from Pegasus.
- On 6 May 2007 an [zAirbus A380|Airbus A380-841]] of registration F-WWOW arrived in Delhi and in Mumbai two days later as part of Kingfisher's second anniversary celebrations.
- On 20 June 2007, Kingfisher Airlines announced that it will buy Airbus aircraft including an extra 15 Airbus A350-800 aircraft. The order also included five Airbus A340-500 aircraft, ten Airbus A330-200 aircraft and 20 Airbus A320 Family aircraft. The order was worth a total of US$7.3 billion at list prices.
- On 13 December 2008, three of Kingfisher Airline's Airbus A320-200s were grounded by DGCA for not paying their rental bills.
- Kingfisher also recently converted its 5 additional orders for Airbus A340-500s to Airbus A330-200s and cancelled the other 3 A340-500s as the markets crashed due to Worldwide Economic Recession and also because it’s Bangalore-London service did not yield much traffic and the Load Factor was extremely low.
- In February 2009, Kingfisher postponed their Airbus A380-800 stating that the existing model has a higher take-off weight and will consume more fuel to fly non-stop to the US. The airline has requested Airbus SAS to modify certain specifications for the A380-800s it has ordered so as “to increase fuel and operational efficiency”.
Expansion Plans
On 28 July 2008, Kingfisher Airlines announced that it would make Amsterdam Airport Schipol as its European Hub to provide connectivity between India and Africa,Europe & North America. Subject to Government Approval Kingfisher Airlines wants to connect Major Indian Cities with its European Hub.
In-Flight Services
Currently there are two classes of service in the Kingfisher Airlines domestic network, Kingfisher First and Economy. Economy class has 32-34 inch seat pitch with footrest. Also after the acquisition of Air Deccan, it has also started a low fare Kingfisher Red Class offering cheaper fares to the passengers.
Kingfisher Airlines domestic in-flight product has been granted a 5-star rating from Skytrax. It is also known for the glamorised look of its cabin crew.
Awards
- "NDTV Profit Business Leadership Award for Aviation" - awarded to Kingfisher Airlines by NDTV.
- "Brand Leadership Award" - in the service and hospitality segment against several acclaimed hotels, leading banks and other airlines.
- Economic Times Avaya Award 2006 for Excellence in “Customer Responsiveness” - The prestigious Award is Presented by the highly acclaimed Business Daily, Economic Times.
- "India's No. 1 Airline in customer satisfaction" - Business World
- "Rated amongst India's most respected companies" - Business World
- Rated amongst India’s 25 Innovative Companies - Survey conducted by Planman Media
- ‘The Best Airline” and “India’s Favourite Carrier” - In a Survey conducted by IMB for The Times Of India.
- “Best New Domestic Airline for Excellent Services and Cuisine” - Pacific Area Travel Writers Association (PATWA) the biggest travel writers’ organisation, representing members from 70 countries across the globe, that conducts independent annual surveys across various industries related with Travel and Tourism in order to select the best in each category.
- “Service Excellence for a New Airline” - Skytrax, a UK based specialist global air transport advisor
- “Ranked Third in the survey on India’s Most Successful Brand launch of 2005” - under the Brand Derby Survey conducted by India’s leading business daily - Business Standard.
- “Buzziest Brands of 2005” - Ranked amongst the Top Ten buzziest brands of 2005 & 2006 across product categories, in the survey conducted by agencyfaqs.com and Brand Reporter.
- Best New Airline of the Year” - Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) Award in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East region.
- Rated amongst Top Ten Internet Advertisers - Yahoo India
- Rated amongst the top ten in the Best Television Commercial Jingles - NDTV
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