One  decade after the Air Deccan had put its feet onto the runways, the owner Captain G R Gopinath has mentioned that he has plans for a come back. Air Deccan was initially the first LCC that was introduced in India but it was forced to shut down within just 5 years of its beginning. He mentioned that there are at least three foreign LCCs that have teamed up with him while agreeing to take a 49% share in the new venture for which he has already applied a licence. The agreement which binds him with Vijay Mallya the owner of Kingfisher, which is now grounded, would end on Jan 28, 2013.

If what Gopinath says would materialize as planned, India would have cheaper flights domestically by the mid 2013. In the past few years there were no new airlines that entered the market. Worse still, there were quite a few that had gone down for good like Paramount, MDLR, Kingfisher and Air Decan. With a drop in the capacity and an increase in the demand, the fares have shot high up in the sky to the point of being unaffordable.

"I decided to start an airline as I can't afford the airfares now. Some airlines have grown but they have done so by taking passengers of other players. The domestic air market is falling rapidly and this is unimaginable in a country like India. A new LCC that offers low fares with low costs is the only way to make flying affordable again and grow the market. I will do that," Gopinath, the man who revolutionized low-cost flights in India said. However, he who identified his mistakes with his charter, promised not to repeat the mistakes of Air Deccan , while taking forward its successful points in the new venture.

"When I launched Air Deccan in 2003, everything was a challenge and was being done for the first time. I have learnt a lot from that experience and decided on many things differently from the past," he said. We hope he can revive the low-cost flying in India and make the now gouging prices affordable.

(AW- Anil)