Budget airlines pioneer Captain Gopinath to start new venture

Gopinath had retained the chartered business of Deccan Aviation, which was renamed as Deccan Charters, and this made his re-entry into the aviation space possible.
Budget airlines pioneer Captain Gopinath to start new venture
Budget airlines pioneer Captain Gopinath to start new venture
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Captain Gopinath who revolutionized air travel in India with the launch of budget carrier Air Deccan is all set to embark on his next venture, as per a report by Bobins Abraham in Indiatimes.

Five airlines including Air Deccan have been given the green signal under the UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) scheme, which aims to increase air connectivity in smaller cities.

Under the new venture, the flights will operate between Delhi-Agra, Kolkata-Burnpur, Kolkata-Cooch Behar, Bagdogra-Durgapur, Kolkata-Jamshedpur, Kolkata-Rourkela, Shillong from various cities in the north-east, Dehradun-Pantnagar and Delhi-Pantnagar, Mumbai-Kolhapur, Mumbai-Jalgaon, Mumbai-Nashik, Pune-Nashik, Mumbai-Sholapur, the report adds.

Gopinath, who retired as a captain in the Indian Army, forayed into the aviation sector in 1997 with the launch of Deccan Aviation, which offered chartered helicopter service.

In 2003, he moved into the budget airlines segment with the launch of Air Deccan, based out of Bangalore (then). The move was a huge hit and at the height of its success, Air Deccan had a fleet of 43 aircrafts, covering 61 destinations through 350 daily flights and had a market share of 22%. 

The airline slowly went out of business as financial problems started affecting the company.

Even after his exit from the airline, Gopinath had retained the chartered business of Deccan Aviation, which was renamed as Deccan Charters, and this made his re-entry into the aviation space possible, the report says.

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