Virgin planned to pick up stake in Air Deccan and Richard Branson had discussions with the airline CMD G R Gopinath but the talks remained unfruitful due to civil aviation policy guidelines. Virgin clarified that Branson was not interested in investing in Air Deccan in his individual capacity.
The airline is considering operating direct flights from Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore to London. Meanwhile, it will be increasing its number of flights to Mumbai and New Delhi.
The airline today introduced upper class suite in India offering comfortable reclining leather seat for take off and converts into a fully flat bed. The airline was also thinking of providing mobile connectivity in the air, but it was in the premature state, he said.
The upper class suite is available in all Virgin's Boeing 747-400, Airbus A 340-600 and A 340-300 aircraft. The A 340-300 aircraft operating on the Indian routes has been configured with 34 upper class suites, 35 premium economy seats and 171 seats in the economy class.
