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This man who gave cheap flights to millions of Indians

 In the summer of 2005, he became a retired army officer.  Gopinath announced that he would fly to Indians for a rupee or less.



  It was the incredible sales pitch of the founder of the country’s first budget airline.


  Air Deccan, based on European budget carriers such as their two-year-old no-frills airline, EasyJet and Rainier, has already made it cheaper for millions of Indians to fly.  Captain Gopinath's tickets cost half as much as the charge levied by the rivals.


  Now its airline has introduced "Dynamic Pricing" where a small number of "early bird" customers can travel in rupees.  Latecomers will pay a higher ticket price, which will still be significantly lower than competitors.  Not surprisingly, the booking counters were filled with customers, many of them first time flyers.  This kind of pricing by critics will destroy the industry.


  "One rupee ticket took away people's imagination and quickly became a buzzword," Captain Gopinath wrote in his memoirs.  He believed that his airline had not only broken the "barrier of spirit, but also the class barrier to India's race and aviation".

The new Tamil film Surarai Potru (Prashansa Bahadur) released on Amazon Prime Video this week celebrates the life of an insolent businessman.  The film is based on the memoirs of Captain Gopinath and is produced by Academy Award winner Guneet Munga.

Rich Munga told the BBC: "There is an incredible story of bridging the gap between fantasies and non-fantasies. Most Indians were excited when Captain Gopinath introduced the concept of low cost aviation."  Tamil film star Surya, who plays a businessman, says, "He revolutionized aviation in India by breaking class and economic barriers."


  Surarai Potru has all the popular industries of commercial Tamil cinema: song and dance, focusing on breaking class and class, and a lot of action and melodrama.


  


  He often did more than chew, failed in his adventure, became a bust, but his say-die spirit is contagious", says Suriya.  Says Suriya.


  The reviews have been encouraging.  One said the film made a "catchy watch" and another said "under the inspirational ragged story" was a solid commentary on the film genre.  -Fought, and won

Captain Gopinath was born in a remote village in the southern state of Karnataka to a teacher-farmer father and a living mother.


  


  "I was a restless soul in my youth and a madman with the idea of   making wealth accessible to all," Captain Gopinath told the BBC.


  


  In 1997, he became the first private charter company in India to establish a helicopter service.  As he recalls, the tagline was: "If you show us a spot on the map, we'll take you there."


  Spark was launched in the US in 2000 to launch low-cost airlines in India.  Came in during the holiday.


  In Phoenix, he saw that the local airport handles 1000 flights and 100,000 passengers a day.  He said it was hard to believe that "Backf Airport" handled more flights and passengers than all the 40 airports in India.


  He discovered that the U.S.  There are 40,000 commercial flights a day compared to 420 in India.  He quickly calculated the envelopes: if 5% of the approximately 30 million Indians who travel by train and bus start flying, it will catch the eye of 530 million air passengers a year.  "


  As of 2007, the airline operated 380 flights a day from 67 airports in many small cities.  The fleet grew to 45 aircraft.  When the airlines started, more than ૨ from a thousand, twenty-five thousand passengers were flying the budget every day.  Three million Indians flew on tickets worth one crore rupees.


  But Air Deck struggled to cope with the rising cost of damage.  In 2007, Captain Gopinath sold his company to Kingfisher, which was owned by alcohol baron Vijay Mallya, who also owns Kingfisher Airlines.  Mr. Mallya renamed Air Deccan as Kingfisher Red


  By then other low cost carriers have entered the market and are still dominant.  In 2018, about 140 million Indians flew domestically, mostly on budget carriers.


  

  Captain Gopinath told the BBC in 2012 that Mr Mallya "never had time for an airline."  I don't think anyone would have done a better job than he did.  "


  "It was a tragedy. But Air Deccan's dream is alive. The [budget airline] revolution is on," says Captain Gopinath.


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