Kingfisher Airlines promises "good times" despite global oil gloom

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Meanwhile, at a time when other carriers are resorting to cutting routes, issuing e-tickets and charging for items such as snacks and checked luggage to cut their losses, Mallya's Deccan said it would provide hot meals to passengers at nominal prices.

In a bid to shed its image as Kingfisher's country cousin, Deccan said, from August, its passengers would be able to enjoy complete meals, breakfast, lunch or dinner on board, with desserts and hot coffee.

In addition, the passengers would also be able to check in at Kingfisher's airport counters and use its AC buses, instead of Deccan's non-AC buses, to transit between the terminal and aircraft.

In other words, Deccan would shrug off its image as a budget carrier and begin portraying itself as a value carrier.

The change would not have much effect on the bottomline of the company, Rajesh Verma, executive vice president, Kingfisher Airlines, said, adding the main idea is to introduce Deccan passengers to Kingfisher experience.

"We recently have been forced to raise prices due to the rises in the price of fuel. And we have surprisingly not seen any reduction in our load-factor, which reinforces our belief that when people pay more they demand higher standards of quality, which Kingfisher Airlines is able to deliver," Mallya said.

ABOUT INDIA'S AVIATION SECTOR

India's aviation sector, dominated by Jet Airways-LetLite combine and Kingfisher Airlines-Deccan combine is seeing red for the past few months because of dwindling passenger traffic and high fuel costs.

In June, Sydney-based Center for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) warned that losses incurred by the Indian aviation industry could surpass $2 billion in the present fiscal year and "shock almost everyone" even as soaring fuel costs and economic turmoil hit passenger numbers.

KPMG also said that India's loss-making aviation sector should be ready to accept rising aviation turbine fuel (ATF or jet fuel) as a way of life at a time when global crude oil prices are touching record high levels.

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