Kingfisher Airlines
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| Kingfisher Airlines | ||
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| IATA IT |
ICAO KFR |
Callsign KINGFISHER |
| Founded | 2004 | |
| Hubs | ||
| Focus cities | ||
| Frequent flyer program | King Club | |
| Fleet size | 47 (+ 111 orders, 35 options) | |
| Destinations | 38 + 20 (Pending Govt Approval) = 58 | |
| Parent company | UB Group | |
| Company slogan | Fly The Good Times | |
| Headquarters | Bangalore, India | |
| Key people | Dr. Vijay Mallya, CMD Mr. Hitesh Patel, EVP Mr. Rajesh Verma, EVP Mr. A. Raghunathan, CFO |
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| Website: http://www.flykingfisher.com | ||
Kingfisher Airlines Limited is an airline based in Bangalore, India. It operates 218 flights a day and has a network of 38 destinations, with plans for regional and long-haul international services. Its main bases are Bengaluru International Airport, Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Rajiv Gandhi International Airport and Indira Gandhi International Airport.[1] Kingfisher Airlines, through one of its holding companies United Breweries Group, has acquired 26% stake in the budget airline Air Deccan and has option to buy further of 20% stake from the secondary sector.
Kingfisher is one of six airlines in the world to have a five-star rating from Skytrax, along with Asiana Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airways.
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[edit] History
The airline started operations on 9 May 2005, following the lease of four Airbus A320-200 aircraft. As of July 2007, Kingfisher operates only domestic routes. It has announced plans to start flights to the USA with Airbus A340-500 and Airbus A380-800 aircraft. The airline is owned by the United Breweries Group. In October 2007, the airline announced Deepika Padukone as its brand ambassador.
[edit] Destinations
Kingfisher Airlines currently operates only a domestic network across India. It has plans to start international services to North America using Airbus A340-500 aircraft. Other destinations in consideration for future expansion include East Midlands, London, Sydney, San Francisco, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vancouver, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok from its Bengaluru hub.
The airline plans to begin operations from Bengaluru to London Heathrow by September 3rd, followed by flights from Mumbai to London Heathrow, Bengaluru to San Fransico and New York, via Amsterdam also by September 2008. Further into the future, international services will possibly be expanded to the Middle-East, East Asia, Sri lanka, Nepal and Pakistan, starting with the Bengaluru to Singapore sector. The airline will use the Bengaluru International Airport as its main international hub.
[edit] Fleet
Kingfisher Airlines fleet currently consists of the ATR 72,Airbus A320 Family,for domestic/short haul services and Airbus A330 for International Long Haul Services. Deliveries of the ordered Airbus A330-200 and Airbus A340-500 for international services are expected sometime in the future. The Kingfisher Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft as of 6th July 2008:
| Aircraft | Total | Orders | Options | Engine | Passengers (Kingfisher First/Kingfisher Class) |
Routes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATR 72 | 20 | 15 | 20 | PW127F | 66 (0/66) | Domestic Short Haul | order placed in 2005 Dubai Air Show, initial order was subsequently increased in February 2006 for 15 additional from the 20 original ATR 72-500 and 20 options [1] |
| Airbus A319-100 | 3 | 0 | 0 | IAE V2500 | 144 (0/144) | Short to Medium Haul | [2] |
| Airbus A320-200 | 14 | 48 | 0 | IAE V2500 | 174 (0/174) 134 (20/114) |
Short to Medium Haul | [3] |
| Airbus A321-200 | 8 | 0 | 0 | IAE V2500 | 199 (0/199) 151 (32/119) |
Short to Medium Haul | |
| Airbus A330-200 | 2 | 13 | 0 | PW4168A | 217 (30/187) | Medium to Long Haul | 5 orders placed in 2005 Dubai Air Show,Additional 10 orders placed in 2007 Paris Air Show |
| Airbus A340-500 | 0 | 10 | 0 | Rolls Royce Trent 556 | Ultra Long Haul | 5 orders placed in 2006 at Hanover [4], additional 5 orders placed in 2007 Paris Air Show | |
| Airbus A350-800 | 0 | 20 | 10 | Rolls Royce Trent XWB | Ultra Long Haul | 5 orders placed in 2005 Dubai Air Show, additional 15 orders placed in 2007 Paris Air Show [5] | |
| Airbus A380-800 | 0 | 5 | 5 | Long Haul | order Placed in 2005 Dubai Air Show |
Kingfisher Airlines has an average fleet age of 1.7 years as at March 2008.
- The airline began operation with entirely new aircraft.[citation needed]
- On 18 February 2005, Kingfisher Airlines signed a contract with Airbus for three Airbus A319 aircraft, adding to the 10 Airbus A320 aircraft (plus 20 options) ordered in January 2005. The first of the A319s will be delivered in December 2005, complementing the A320s on routes to smaller cities in India.[3]
- On 15 June 2005, Kingfisher announced orders for the Airbus A380. It placed orders for five A380s, five Airbus A350-800 aircraft and five Airbus A330-200 aircraft. Delivery of the A330s is due to start in late 2007, followed by the A380s in 2010 and the A350s in 2012.
- On 20 November 2005, at the Dubai Air Show, Kingfisher Airlines announced that it would be buying 20 ATR 72-500s (plus 15 options). The deal is estimated to be worth $500 million with the deliveries starting from March 2006. The last of the 20 planes would be handed over to Kingfisher Airlines by 2008. The first aircraft from that order was delivered to the airlines on March 31, 2006.[citation needed]
- On 21 November 2005, at the same air show, Kingfisher Airlines placed an order to acquire 30 more A320s in a deal estimated to be worth $2 billion. Engine-making joint venture International Aero Engines will supply the engines for the planes. Deliveries for the planes are expected to start from 2008.[citation needed]
- On 13 January 2006 an Airbus A319 of Kingfisher Airlines was the first aircraft in that class to land on the short older runway at Mangalore Jet Airways has been operating to old Manglore much before since 1998 with a bigger Boeing 737-400.[4]
- On the 24 April 2006, Kingfisher signed a contract for five Airbus A340-500 HGWs. The airline plans to use this for its Bangalore-San Francisco . Delivery is expected for 2008.[5]
- Kingfisher has sold two Airbus A321s to Pegasus Aviation Finance in a sale and lease-back deal. Pegasus says in a statement that the two newly-built A321-200s that are being prepared for delivery to Kingfisher will be the first of the stretched A320-family variant in India. Kingfisher already leases one A320 from Pegasus.[6]
- An A380 of registration F-WWOW arrived on 6 May 2007 in New Delhi and in Mumbai two days later as part of Kingfisher's second anniversary celebrations.
- On 20 June 2007, Kingfisher airlines announced that it will buy Airbus aircraft including an extra 15 A350-800 XWB aircraft. The order also includes five four-engine A340-500 planes, 10 A330-200 wide-body models and 20 single-aisle A320-family jets. The order is worth a total of $7.2 billion at list prices.
[edit] In Flight Services
Currently there are two classes of service in the Kingfisher domestic network, Kingfisher First and economy. Economy class has 32-34 inch seat pitch with footrest.
Kingfisher Airlines' in-flight product has been granted a 5-star rating from Skytrax.
The air crew (hostesses) are reportedly the most attractive of any airline in the world (see http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2004/07/29/stories/2004072902510600.htm)
[edit] Awards
- "NDTV Profit Business Leadership Award for Aviation" - awarded to Kingfisher Airlines by NDTV.
- "Brand Leadership Award" - in the service and hospitality segment against several acclaimed hotels, leading banks and other airlines.
- Economic Times Avaya Award 2006 for Excellence in “Customer Responsiveness” - The prestigious Award is Presented by the highly acclaimed Business Daily, Economic Times.
- "India's No. 1 Airline in customer satisfaction" - Business World
- "Rated amongst India's most respected companies" - Business World
- Rated amongst India’s 25 Innovative Companies - Survey conducted by Planman Media
- ‘The Best Airline” and “India’s Favourite Carrier” - In a Survey conducted by IMB for The Times Of India.
- “Best New Domestic Airline for Excellent Services and Cuisine” - Pacific Area Travel Writers Association (PATWA) the biggest travel writers’ organisation, representing members from 70 countries across the globe, that conducts independent annual surveys across various industries related with Travel and Tourism in order to select the best in each category.
- “Service Excellence for a New Airline” - Skytrax, a UK based specialist global air transport advisor
- “Ranked Third in the survey on India’s Most Successful Brand launch of 2005” - under the Brand Derby Survey conducted by India’s leading business daily - Business Standard.
- “Buzziest Brands of 2005” - Ranked amongst the Top Ten buzziest brands of 2005 & 2006 across product categories, in the survey conducted by agencyfaqs.com and Brand Reporter.
- Best New Airline of the Year” - Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) Award in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East region.
- Rated amongst Top Ten Internet Advertisers - Yahoo India
- Rated amongst the top ten in the Best Television Commercial Jingles - NDTV
[edit] References
- ^ "Directory: World Airlines", Flight International (2007-04-03), p. 101.
- ^ Kingfisher Airlines Fleet
- ^ Kingfisher becomes first Indian customer for A380, A350, & A330 airbus.com
- ^ Creates History - Airbus A-319 Trial Flight Lands at Bajpe daijiworld.com
- ^ Kingfisher grows its Airbus fleet with purchase of five A340-500 airbus.com
- ^ Air Transport Intelligence news. Oct/2006
[edit] External links
- Kingfisher Airlines
- Kingfisher Airlines Fleet
- Photographs
- Kingfisher Airlines and Toyota F1
- Kingfisher World - The World of Good Times
- kingfisher airline info
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