GECAS To Lease Two Airbus A320s To Air Deccan

The aircraft are scheduled for delivery to Air Deccan in January 2006. They are part of an early return agreement reached with U.S. Airways in May 2005.

"We continue to redeploy aircraft with low-cost carriers in India and other regions where the demand for narrow body aircraft remains strong," said Tejpreet S. Chopra, vice president of marketing for GECAS. "Including Air Deccan, we lease aircraft to 27 different low-cost carriers around the world, making it one of the fastest-growing segments of our business."

Capt G. R. Gopinath, Managing Director Air Deccan, said, "The two Airbus A-320s will take our fleet size up to 22. Procurement of these two aircraft will enable us to fast-forward our expansion plans with increased penetration in the domestic Metro network."

In addition to leased aircraft, GECAS provides commercial pilot training to Air Deccan through its GE Commercial Aviation Training (GECAT) unit. Air Deccan pilots are undertaking conversion training at GECAT's London training centres. GECAT has longstanding ties to Indian carriers and has approval from the Indian DGCA to conduct training courses using its team of JAA Qualified Type Rated Instructors and Examiners.

Since its inception in August 2003, Air Deccan has carried over 2 million passengers, covering 37 Destinations. They have more than 146 flights a day, with a fleet size of 05 Airbus A 320's (180 seater), 13 ATR 42's (48 seater) and 2 ATR 72's (72 seater). Air Deccan is a business unit of Deccan Aviation, India's Largest Charter Company in the private sector.

GECAS is the commercial aircraft financing and leasing business of General Electric. GECAS has a fleet of more than 1,300 owned aircraft and offers a full range of aircraft fleet, financing and productivity solutions to more than 200 airlines worldwide. Its pilot training unit has a worldwide network of more than 50 flight simulators. GECAS serves airline customers in India from an office in New Delhi and maintains offices in 20 other cities around the world. GECAS currently has more than US$250 million in leased aircraft invested in India.

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