Mallya keen on owning part of Air Deccan

NEW DELHI: Kingfisher Airlines Chairman Vijay Mallya on Monday said he was keen about picking a stake in domestic budget carrier Air Deccan, but was not ready for buying out the no-frills airline.

"Am I interested? Yes. Am I imminently acquiring it? Not decided as yet," Mallya told reporters at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, when asked whether Air Deccan was in his acquisition radar.

Mallya, whose airline is positioned as a full-service true value carrier, had last year sought to acquire Air Sahara. But the deal never happened due to differences over valuation and was finally clinched by Jet Airways.

Air Deccan is India's largest low-fare airline with over 350 daily flights and a fleet of new Airbus A320s and ATRs.

"I don't have any current plans to acquire Air Deccan," he said in reply to a spate of questions at a press conference at IGI Airport organised to mark the visit of the world's largest aircraft, Airbus A-380.

Bangalore-based Air Deccan's spokeswoman had last week denied reports of an acquisition bid from Kingfisher, terming it as "mere speculation."

On his future plans with the A-380s, the first of which would be inducted in 2010-11, the liquor baron and Rajya Sabha MP said he would operate them for non-stop long-haul flights from Delhi and Mumbai to New York, Chicago or even Atlanta.

Airbus Industries COO John Leahy, accompanying Mallya, said his company was holding talks with some other Indian carriers which had shown interest in acquiring the "gentle green giant" which can carry 853 passengers in a full-economy configuration.

While Leahy refused to identify which Indian airline wanted to buy A-380s, Airbus sources said Air India, Jet Airways and Air Deccan had evinced interest.