Kingfisher Airlines Flags Off Inaugural Flight from Kolkata to Bangkok

(L to R) Mr. Rajesh Verma , Executive Vice President , Kingfisher Airlines hands over the Kingfisher Airlines aircraft model to Mr. Manop Mekprayoonthong, Hon. Consul General, Royal Thai Consulate General in Kolkata today to commemorate the launch of Kingfisher Airlines inaugural flight from Kolkata to Bangkok		(L to R) Mr. Vijay Arora, Head of Sales All India, Kingfisher Airlines Limited and Mr. Rajesh Verma, Executive Vice President , Kingfisher Airlines hand over the First Boarding Pass to Mr. Manop Mekprayoonthong, Hon. Consul General, Royal Thai Consulate General in Kolkata today to commemorate the launch of Kingfisher Airlines inaugural flight from Kolkata to Bangkok

Kolkata, August 14, 2009—Kingfisher Airlines, India's only Five Star airline rated by Skytrax, today launched a new international route connecting Kolkata with Bangkok. The inaugural flight was flagged off by a host of dignitaries like Mr. Manop Mekprayoonthong, Hon. Consul General, Royal Thai Consulate General in Kolkata, R Srinivasan, Airport Director (Eastern) – Airport Authority of India, and Mr. Vijay Arora, Head of Sales All India, Kingfisher Airlines Limited. The inaugural flight landed to a festive welcome at Bangkok Airport.

After London, Colombo, Dhaka and Dubai, Bangkok is the fifth international destination on the international route network of Kingfisher Airlines. The flights are conveniently timed with flight IT 021 departing from Kolkata, at 11:20 am and reaching Bangkok at 3:15 pm, local time. The flight departs Bangkok at 4:30 pm and reaches Kolkata at 5:45 pm.

Commenting on the launch of this new service to Thailand, Mr. Siva Ramachandran, Vice President-Global Sales, Kingfisher Airlines Limited said, “The launch of this new route marks the first time that Kingfisher Airlines is operating flights connecting India to South East Asia. Besides catering to the leisure market, the launch of this new route means that pilgrims from Thailand coming into India will be able to benefit from the excellent and convenient onward connectivity to Bodh Gaya. The response to this new service has been tremendous and we look forward to garnering a large share of the traffic on this route.”

“We are absolutely delighted to have India’s premium airline, Kingfisher Airlines connecting Kolkata to Bangkok. Kingfisher has a reputation in India for providing quality service and we take great pride in welcoming Kingfisher Airlines to Bangkok”, said Mr. Manop Mekprayoonthong, Hon. Consul General of the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Kolkata.

The flights between Kolkata and Bangkok are being operated using the A320 family of aircraft featuring Kingfisher Class, the premium economy service from Kingfisher Airlines. Kingfisher Airlines newly launched flights offer the best-in-class experience amongst the narrow-body products serving this route and this coupled with ideal and convenient timings, will offer traders and entrepreneurs on this route a better option.

Kolkata is ideally placed as a transit hub for travelers flying from Bhubaneshwar, Guwahati, Patna and Ranchi into Bangkok as it offers easy connectivity, thanks to the fact that it has a minimum connect time. Guests flying in from Bangkok on Kingfisher Airlines will now have the added advantage of having very conveniently timed onward connections to many domestic destinations in India with almost immediate connections from Kolkata to Bhubaneswar, Delhi, Mumbai and all major metros in India.

Kingfisher Airlines offers the maximum number of flights offered by any single airline network in India.  Kingfisher Airlines has a fleet of 73 aircraft and connects 70 cities across India and abroad and currently flies to 5 international destinations. It has over 370 daily departures on its domestic route network with 94 flights a week on its international route network.

In the first phase of the roll-out of its international route network, Kingfisher Airlines commenced services from Bangalore to London last year. Earlier this year, Kingfisher Airlines launched daily direct services between Mumbai and London and daily flights connecting Chennai with Colombo, Dhaka with Kolkata and Bangalore with Dubai. Bangkok will be the second international destination to be served by Kingfisher Airlines from Kolkata.

About Kingfisher Airlines:

Kingfisher Airlines is India's only Five Star airline rated by Skytrax, and the only one to offer premium first class service on domestic routes. Besides being the first and only airline in India to offer in-flight entertainment on every seat, Kingfisher offers LIVE TV on many domestic routes in India with 16 channels of live and exciting content. The airline has received numerous awards for innovation, customer responsiveness and was voted the ‘Best New Airline of the Year’, within months of its launch.

Kingfisher Airlines is a part of the UB Group that is one of India’s largest conglomerates with diverse interests and a global presence. The UB Group is also the largest Indian alcoholic beverages (beer and spirits) company and the third largest drinks group in the world. Kingfisher Airlines covers all segments of air travel from low fares to premium service and offers most flights by any single airline network in India.

For further information on Kingfisher Airlines or images, members of the media may contact:

Prakash Mirpuri Vice President – Corporate Communication, The UB Group, Mumbai, INDIA email: [email protected]

Shefali Mehta / Sabina Lama IPAN – Mumbai Mobile: 9819410990/9819592389 email: [email protected] / [email protected]

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