United we Fly

With Kingfisher's decision to forge an alliance with arch rival Jet Airways being widely seen as a prelude to a merger in coming months, the aviation industry on Tuesday was abuzz with reports that Captain Gopinath may want to buy back Air Deccan from Vijay Mallya. The reason: keeping the low-cost model started by him in India alive as the two new partners - Mallya and Naresh Goyal - have in the past openly said there's nothing like a LCC (low-cost carrier) here as all airlines have to pay same charges. According to sources, ever since the deal was brokered on Monday night, Gopinath has received offers from some deep-pocketed players about backing him to revive the Deccan model. When contacted, Gopinath told : "I can't comment on this. Obviously I will have to talk to Mallya. If he wants to merge and exit the LCC space, I'll consider acquiring back Deccan now called Kingfisher Red as there are people willing to support this venture. I'll be meeting Mallya on Wednesday." Mallya had initially bought a 26% stake in Deccan last May for Rs 550 crore when Gopinath was strapped for funds. He later acquired another 20% through open offer and his overall investment in Deccan is over Rs 1,000 crore. But the relationship between him and Gopinath has always been edgy after the marriage last year.