Famous cartoonist R K Laxman’s Common man is Deccan Airway’s new conqueror of the air, and it hopes to out do the air India’s maharaja. Yes, Air Deccan has recently launched R K Laxman’s common man as its brand ambassador.

"The aim of our business model is to create an airline of the common man and for the common man," said Capt. G R Gopinath, Managing Director, Air Deccan, talking to Day After. "R K Laxman is someone, with whom the passengers can relate to. He is the perfect choice of the Air Deccan brand ambassador, as he represents the sentiment of the people," Gopinath added.

The Air tickets for Deccan flights, which are priced in between Rs 500 to Rs 4471, depending on the time gap between the date of booking and the day of travel, cost the lowest in comparison to other airlines.

Despite the rise in aviation fuel price, Air Deccan brought down the air fare to the lowest so far. "This can be achieved due to the reduction in the other cost like operating cost, administrative cost, distribution cost. We also manage to cut the unused space in the aircraft," said Air Deccan MD.

"The common man has been a silent observer of the changes in the last five decades. His coming on board the airline reflects the social changes coming about in the lives of the common India today. And this is what we look for," said Gopinath.

"Nearly 1000 tickets are booked in Deccan Airway every month. There are 110 flights daily. The airway has 18 aircrafts and 33 airports. It has fleet size of five air bus A320’s of 180 seater and ATR 42’s of 48 seater," informed Gopinath, while talking to reporters. "We manage the yield in such a manner that no sit lies vacant," Gopinath said, by adding that "We are setting standards not only by bringing down fares but also by setting the trend for a lot more airlines to take to the skies," he added.

"Aviation has the capacity to contribute towards the huge economic growth of the country. It is a huge untapped market, which has yet to contribute a lot towards the growth of Indian economy. And to sustain the growth, we need millions of middle class people to travel by air," Gopinath said.

Recently, Air Deccan has been in news for pioneering the concept of e-ticketing in India. Moreover, the airline operates a 24x7 multi lingual call centre for the booking of tickets. And in its efforts to explore alternative medium of selling air tickets, Deccan Airways has tied up with HPCL. Yes, you can now book your ticket, while filling gas in your vehicle.