Kingfisher Red, formerly known as Simplifly Deccan and originally as Air Deccan, is a low-cost airline brand operated by Kingfisher Airlines based in Mumbai, India. Air Deccan was founded in 2003 and was later acquired by Kingfisher Airlines, undergoing rebranding to align with Kingfisher's brand including changing its name and livery. It has since been rebranded as Kingfisher Red and operates as Kingfisher's low-cost subsidiary.

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2. • Kingfisher Red, known formerly as Simplifly
Deccan and prior to that as Air Deccan, is a
low-cost brand run by Kingfisher Airlines. It is
headquartered in Mumbai, India.
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3. Deccan Aviation
• Formerly known airline was previously operated by Deccan
Aviation. It was started by Captain G. R. Gopinath and its
first flight took off on 23 August 2003 from Hyderabad to
Vijaywada.
• It was known popularly as the common man's airline, with
is logo showing two palms joined together to signify a bird
flying.
• The tagline of the airline was "Simpli-fly," signifying that it
was now possible for the common man to fly. The dream of
Captain Gopinath was to enable "every Indian to fly at least
once in his lifetime."
• Air Deccan was the first airline in India to fly to second tier
cities like Hubballi, Mangalore, Madurai and
Visakhapatnam from metropolitan areas like Bangalore and
Chennai.
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4. Important dates
• On 25 January 2006, Deccan went public by filing a red herring
prospectus with the SEBI. Deccan planned to offload 25 percent of
its stake in the IPO that opened on 18 May. However, due to the
stock market downturn at that time, Air Deccan's IPO barely
managed to scrape through, even after extending the issue closing
date and reducing the price band.
• On 27 February 2007, Air Deccan switched to US-based airline
reservations hosting service provider Radixx
International, becoming the second major domestic Indian carrier
after GoAir to switch to the Radixx Air Enterprise reservation
system. Before moving to the Radixx reservation system, Air
Deccan was using a reservation system provided by the Delhi-based
InterGlobe Technologies.
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5. Factsheet
25 August 2003
Founded
(as Air Deccan)
Hubs Bengaluru International Airport
Company slogan The Choice is Simple
Parent company United Breweries Group
Headquarters Mumbai, India
G. R. Gopinath, Founder
Key people
Vijay Mallya, Chairman
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6. Acquisitions by Kingfisher
• Kingfisher Airlines' parent company United Breweries
Group acquired a 26 percent stake in Air Deccan's parent
company Deccan Aviation. The combined fleet of 71 Airbus
A320 family and ATR aircraft will operate 537 flights to 69
Indian cities, "whilst taking advantage of unparalleled
synergy benefits arising from a common fleet of aircraft,"
according to Kingfisher. "For the near future, Kingfisher
will continue to serve the corporate and business travel
segment, while Air Deccan will focus on serving the low-
fare segment, but with improved financial prospects for
both carriers," Kingfisher added. Speaking to reporters
yesterday, UB Group head Vijay Mallya said there were no
plans to launch an IPO "at this stage" and that UB Group
would have no problem funding the acquisition.
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7. Rebranding Activities by Kingfisher
Airlines
• In October 2007, after the acquisition by Kingfisher
Airlines, Air Deccan was renamed "Simplifly Deccan"
with its new tagline being "The choice is simple". The
old logo was replaced by the Kingfisher logo and the
same font of Kingfisher Airlines was also used on
Simplifly Deccan. The old yellow and blue colors of
Air Deccan were replaced by Kingfisher Airlines's red
and white, supposedly to give the same premium look
and feel to Deccan as well.
• The check-in counters at airports as well as the crew
uniforms now had the same red and white colors as
those for Kingfisher Airlines.
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8. Contd…..
• The new look airline also promised excellent on-time
performance, a wider network and "little delights all the
way". Check-in staff would no longer be outsourced, but
managed by the airline's own employees, thereby
"increasing accountability and improving service delivery,"
said Mr Mallya. He also announced that the new airline
would slowly phase out the ageing ATR 42 and A320 planes
and replace them with entirely new aircraft.
• Changes were also made in the flight schedule of Simplifly
Deccan airlines to better align with that of Kingfisher
Airlines. According to agencies, the re-branding was
expected to cost around Rs 15 crore (approximately $3.8m).
• In August 2008, it was announced the airline will further
change its branding to Kingfisher Red and will begin
operating under Kingfisher's IATA code IT
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