Deccan History

Previously known as Air Deccan, Simplifly Deccan is India’s first low-cost airline. It was founded and operated by Deccan Aviation Ltd. by Captain Gopinath in 2003 with regular scheduled flights from Bangalore to Mangalore and Hubli. When it started its operations, Deccan was known popularly as the common man's airlines. Continuing this trend even now, Simplifly Deccan sells air tickets for as low as 500/- even now, minus the taxes.

Although not formally announced, it is believed that Deccan has switched to U.S.-based airline reservations hosting service provider Radixx International (www.radixx.com) effective in late February, becoming the second major domestic Indian carrier to switch to the Radixx Air Enterprise system.

On December 19th, 2007 Air Deccan and Kingfisher Airlines decided to merge. Kingfisher Airlines’ parent company United Breweries (UB Group) have acquired 46% of Air Deccan’s parent Deccan Aviation, which possesses 52% of the total stakes.

The merger will be effective from April 2008 and Kingfisher will effectively merge into Deccan Aviation following which, Deccan Aviation will be renamed ‘Kingfisher Airlines’. Vijay Mallya will be the Chairman and CEO of the new company, while GR Gopinath will be its vice-chairman. The move will allow Kingfisher to bypass the 5 year wait to fly to international destinations. It is believed that Deccan will fly to the Gulf and S.E. Asia, while Kingfisher will reserve Europe and North America.