Kingfisher Airlines-Air Deccan deal not likely

9 May, 2007: Mallya proposed, but in vain. Said Deccan chief Captain Gopinath, “He (Mallya) may want to buy the moon but the moon may not be available for sale.”

Kingfisher chief Vijay Mallya had hoped to buy out the low cost carrier, but the captain has ruled out the sale, saying a combination of the two airlines would make no cultural or business sense. Going by Gopinath’s words, “We are from different planets; he is from Venus, I am from Mars and we are from the opposite ends of the business spectrum, consumer models and consumer space”, he said.

Gopinath reiterated that there is absolutely no chance of Air Deccan selling a stake to Kingfisher. He added that both the airlines can't co-exist as one airline will only kill the other. Adding that Mallya and himself were still good friends, he said their vision and philosophy were totally different.

It may be recalled that Mallya had said that he was interested in buying Air Deccan but an acquisition was not imminent. In the meantime, Air Deccan had denied media reports that it was in talks with Kingfisher Airlines. According to analysts who are currently working overtime speculating on a possible deal, the merger could possibly create an airline that would control 38 per cent of India's domestic aviation market.