Deccan Gopinath Plans to Fly Again

Captain Gopinath, the man who pioneered low cost flying in India, is all set to make a comeback into the domestic aviation field. He has registered for bidding for regional commercial routes, aimed at bringing India’s tier-III and tier-IV cities on aviation map.

After remaining grounded for almost a decade, Gorur Ramaswamy Iyengar Gopinath, popularly known as Captain Gopinath in the aviation industry,  is all set to take off again.

The man who pioneered low cost flying in India has now registered for bidding for regional commercial routes, aimed at bringing India’s tier-three and tier-four cities on aviation map.

He had sold his pet project Air Deccan, India’s first no-frill airline, to Vijay Mallya who later merged it with his parent company.

He confirmed his imminent re-entry into the business to Mumbai Mirror while he was on a trek to Western Ghats and said Deccan Charters is one of the 20 air operator permit holders who have registered for bidding for regional routes.

Captain who brought several new concepts into Indian Aviation including his 1 Rupee tickets believes popular tourist circuits like Shimla, Kulu and Manali in the north or Bellary and Hampi in the south or religious circuits all over the country will generate healthy passenger traffic if connected to cities like Mumbai and Delhi.

Captain Gopinath said there are 600 plus airstrips awaiting commercial connectivity and about 500 of them have no connectivity at all.

Sources say Captain Gopinath’s team is scouting for 20-seater aircraft to launch operations as soon as routes are allotted. As what brand he would run his commercial passenger business is still unclear.