Mallya: High spirits

Bangalore, Jan. 20: Vijay Mallya will launch Kingfisher Airlines in Mumbai on May 7 ? the day when his son Siddarth will turn 18.

The first commercial flight will take off from Mumbai for New Delhi on May 9. The airline will launch services on the Mumbai-New Delhi and Bangalore-New Delhi sectors in phases this year. ?The launch has been scheduled for May 7 to coincide with the 18th birthday of my son (Siddarth). We will focus on the high density trunk routes with the best-in-class in-flight experience,? Mallya said after the extraordinary general meeting of his flagship firm, United Breweries Ltd (UB).

The new airline will start reservations from April 1 for the Mumbai-Delhi sector, with fares for its Kingfisher class at 20 per cent lower than all domestic airlines. ?The Kingfisher class will offer the luxury of having a video screen for every single seat with individual in-flight entertainment system to watch movies, videos and a choice of six channels. The seats will be an inch wider than in any other aircraft of other airlines,? Mallya said.

The airline signed a memorandum of understanding last month with Airbus Industrie for 10 new A-320s, with an option for 20 more aircraft at a later stage. The delivery schedule for all the 10 A-320s is mid-2007.

The airline also plans to acquire the wide-bodied aircraft for overseas destinations such as Singapore, when the government permits private airlines to fly overseas, he said.

Mallya intends to retain Kingfisher Airlines as a 100 per cent subsidiary of UB Holdings through UB General Investments Ltd.

?We may look at either an IPO or private placement at an appropriate time,? he added.