After four years of oblivion in which he even made an unsuccessful foray into Lok Sabha on a Shiv Sena ticket Damania is trying to make Sahara Airlines what Damania Airways was well-known for passenger service and comfort. Sahara, which was hitherto suffering from an acute image problem among the corporate travellers, has a lot to gain from Damania's experience.

Damania spoke to DEV CHATTERJEE about his plans for Sahara and why he took up the current assignment. Excerpts:

Why have you joined Sahara Airlines? What has been your brief while joining the airline?
Sahara was planning a major expansion drive to emerge as one of India'slargest private airline. The group thinks there is good potential in the aviation industry. They were looking for an experienced person who can run the airline on a day-to-day basis. Here, I stepped in. The airline wants me to see it through its expansion drive which includes buying two more Boeing aircraft, and twelve 30-seater turbo props. I am also here to change the perception about the airline among the corporate travellers. Right now, very few people are aware of the airline and the discounts it is offering to the corporate clients as well as common travellers.

Coming to discounts, why are airfares so high in India? Do you think this is a fallout of the Indian Airlines-Jet duopoly?
Absolutely. The airfare in India is very high and there is substantial scope to reduce it. We at Sahara believe that by giving discounts to our passengers, we will be able to give value for money and get repeat passengers which in the long-run would benefit the airline's image.

We think by offering low fares,Sahara will be able to sell more seats, thus making it affordable for everyone to take a flight. For instance, we are offering a discount of Rs 2,000 on the Mumbai-Delhi return fare which is a big discount for a traveller.

We think with cost cutting going on in corporate India, more corporate travellers will start travelling by our airline. Any kind of monopoly or duopoly is bad for consumers of any industry... Sahara is giving discounts irrespective of what the competition charges its passengers.

What are the plans of Sahara to expand its fleet? How is your helicopter service faring?
In the next 12 months, we are planning to induct two more Boeings which will be deployed on the trunk routes. We are also looking at more flights from Mumbai and Delhi, so that passengers can have direct access. At the end of our expansion, which will include replacing two Boeing 737-200s, Sahara will have seven Boeing-400s.

We will deploy our 12 turbo props in all the three metros which will cater to the smallcities around that metropolis. For example, we are planning to deploy three 30-seaters each at North East, Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi. All the three will fly to neighboring small cities like Mumbai to Surat, Bhavnagar, Nashik, Delhi-Agra, Chandigarh etc. The idea is to connect more cities in the country and tap the hidden potential as a regional airline. Our four choppers are currently flying charters in both Delhi and Mumbai and has met with a good response from the corporate sector.

How are you planning to fund the expansion? Is Sahara making profit at present?
The investments in our expansion would be made through internal accruals and investments by group companies. We are looking at an investment of about Rs 250 crore to Rs 300 crore more into the airline business. At present, due to wafer-thin margins, all the airlines in India are making very little money. Thus, due to small-size of our operations of four Boeings, our profits are not as high as Jet or Indian Airlines. But we are extremelyconfident of the future. Hence, we are infusing more funds into the business.

What lessons have you learnt at Damania Airways? How will you make use of that experience in Sahara?
One important thing in the aviation business is to keep your costs down. The airline must be customer-friendly to get repeat customers. Besides, one should not take travel agents for granted as they are the backbone of the industry and help passengers choose an airline.

On the investment side, it is better if an airline owns its aircraft. Due to the high dollar-rupee difference, the lease rentals have shot up heavily while the airline is still earning in rupee terms. I am sure many of the present airlines who have taken aircraft on high lease rentals are bleeding heavily due to depreciation of rupee.