Deccan Aviation, India’s largest budget airline, won approval to start overseas flights on August 26, the Civil Aviation Ministry said in a release. Billionaire Vijay Mallya’s airline got the rights to fly seven times a week on the Bangalore-London route, the ministry said today.
Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines bought Deccan last year with the discount carrier becoming eligible to start overseas flights this year on the completion of five years of domestic operations.
Existing aviation rules in India stipulate that an airline must complete five years of domestic services to become eligible for starting overseas flights. Kingfisher, which started in May 2005, would otherwise have been eligible to start overseas flights only in 2010.