Air Deccan plans fleet of 60 in four years

Low-cost carrier Air Deccan is targeting a fleet size of about 60 aircraft over the next four years. Its has 15 aircraft at present.

"In the long term, we will have to have the fleet size of a mid-sized airline. We will have about 30 small-size ATRs and another 30 Airbus aircraft in the fleet. This will help us cover the entire country," GR Gopinath, managing director, Deccan Aviation, said here today. The company will be funding the fleet acquisition through both debt and equity.

In the immediate future, the airline will induct about 15 small-sized aircraft into its fleet, which based on the current market price is expected to cost about $200 million. For this, it is currently in talks with Canadian regional jet maker Bombardier.

The immediate timetable for fleet acquisition also includes Deccan taking two Airbus aircraft into its fleet in February and two more in September. "By March next year the total fleet size will be 17. We will also be retiring some of the older aircraft we have in the fleet," he said.

Air Deccan, which will close its first full year of operations this year, expects revenues of around $125 million with a marginal net profit. In the last year, Air Deccan recorded revenues of about $25 million.

Gopinath said the carrier was close to finalising its private placement and was in talks with major global funds for this. In the subsequent phase, the airline was also planning an initial public offer. He also said in the private placement none of the existing shareholders would encash their stakes in the company.

The airline is expected to offer about 15-20 per cent equity to raise the necessary funds.

"We are adding new routes as well as acquiring new aircraft. The funds will be utilised for that," said Gopinath. The airline, with a paid-up equity of Rs 30 crore, has a debt component of Rs 70 crore.