UB likely to call off excess aircraft orders

The UB Group is conceiving a move to call off excess aircraft orders and return production slots to Airbus Industrie which could yield the company as much as $5 million for each aircraft. After identifying excess capacity, both its airlines, Kingfisher Airlines as well as Deccan Aviation, plan to either lease out aircraft to other airlines or defer their induction into the fleet or cancel the orders in consultation with Airbus. On Dec 19, the boards of Kingfisher Airlines as well as Deccan Aviation are learnt to have decided to lease two of their Airbus aircraft to another airline.

Deccan has 23 Airbus aircraft in its fleet with 30 more in the pipeline while Kingfisher Airlines has 24 Airbus in its fleet while it is yet to receive 26 more aircraft. The amalgamated entity will be renamed Kingfisher Airlines from the next financial year while Deccan would continue to operate as a low-cost airline. The UB Group Chairman, Mr Vijay Mallya, will be the Chairman of the merged entity while the Deccan Aviation Chairman, Capt G.R. Gopinath, will be the Vice-Chairman.