Air Deccan (Kingfisher Red)

Founded as Air Deccan on 25 August 2003, Kingfisher Red holds the distinction of being India's first low-cost airline. Its founder is Captain G R Gopinath. Soon after its conception, the airline started its regular air operations, with its flights scheduled to ply from Bangalore to Mangalore and Hubli. The airline has grown rapidly since its inception. It has revolutionized air travel in India and has brought air travel within the reach of common man. It was the first airline in India to link second rung cities like Hubli, Madurai and Visakhapatnam, to metros like Bangalore and Chennai. Read on to check out the profile of Kingfisher Red.

The evolution of Air Deccan to Kingfisher Red is quite an interesting story. In October 2007, when Kingfisher Airlines took over Air Deccan, the latter was renamed as Simplifly Deccan, with the old logo replaced by the Kingfisher Logo and the same font of Kingfisher Airlines. The bright combination of red and white substituted the old yellow and blue color scheme, used in Air Deccan. With the same premium look and feel, Simplifly Deccan promised to provide excellent on-time performance. The name was subsequently changed to Kingfisher Red in August 2008. The re-branding cost a whopping Rs 15 crore.

Previously operated by Deccan Aviation, Kingfisher Red is headquartered in Bangalore, India, and currently run by Kingfisher Airlines. Presently, Kingfisher Red is the only low-cost Indian airline to provide complimentary in-flight meals and bottled water to its passengers. Over the years, it has proved as a passenger-friendly airline, with a number of benefits to its passengers. For instance, the passengers wishing to fly by Kingfisher Red can earn frequent flyer miles, provided the tickers are booked through the King Club loyalty program, run by the airline's parent - Kingfisher Airlines.

Kingfisher Red covers as many as 65 destinations within India, including Srinagar, Leh, Jammu, Pathankot, Dharamshala, Kullu, Shimla, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Delhi, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Ahmedabad, Kandla, Jamnagar, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Indore, Vadodara, Bholap, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Lucknow, Patna, Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Raipur, Nagpur, Aurangabad, Bhubaneshwar, Kolkata, Bagdogra, Agartala, Aizwal, Silchar, Imphal, Dimapur, Guwahati, Jorhat, Lilabari, Dibrugarh, Mumbai, Pune, Kolhapur, Belgaum, Goa, Hubli, Hyderabad, Tirupathi, Vidyanagar, Vijaywada, Rajamundary, Vizag, Managalore, Bangalore, Chennai, Calicut, Coimbatore, Trichy, Cochin, Madurai, Trivandrum, Port Blair and Tuticorin.