Air Deccan founder plans to launch new regional

Air Deccan founder Captain GR Gopinath reportedly plans to launch a new Indian regional airline (Economic Times, 08-Mar-2011). Captain Gopinath, who founded and sold Air Deccan to Kingfisher Airlines, is reportedly in talks with international vendors to develop software for a new scheduled airline. Mr Gopinath plans to first target the growing regional market before expanding to connect metros. "I want to start a regional airline and then also expand it to the trunk national routes, but this will take a while. I need another 10 years of energy and also cash flow is an issue," Mr Gopinath reportedly stated. The new carrier is expected to materialise towards the end of 2012 when Mr Gopinath's five-year non-compete clause, signed at the time of selling his stake to Kingfisher, ends.