4 May 2005, Bangalore

Subject : Air Deccan announces launch of Mr R.K Laxman’s ‘Common Man’ as the brand ambassador

We started our journey with a dream. A dream inspired by just one statement. “I want every Indian to fly at least once in their lifetime”. - Capt Gopi

And after having flown over 1 million passengers, with a fleet of 17 aircrafts and 111 flights a day, we’re well on our way towards making the dream of an airline for the people a reality. While we were operationally working towards 60 more aircrafts being inducted into the fleet, we were also on the look out for someone who could be the face of the airline – someone who embodied our simplicity, no frill approach and the whole dream, someone whom our passengers could relate to, someone who will be an intrinsic part of our ‘peoples airline’ ….. and we came across Mr. R.K. Laxman’s ’Common Man’,

“The Common Man”, has been a silent observer to all the social and economic change in our country. ‘The Common Man’ who has in his silence voiced the thoughts of an entire nation, is today, by boarding our flight, telling us in his own silent way that the promise of a people’s airline is coming true.

Mr. R.K. Laxman, the creator of the ‘Common Man’, who is known to be a man of few words, said “My ‘Common Man’ is the voice of every Indian and I feel every Indian must fly regardless of their economic situation. I feel Captain Gopi’s vision for his airline, of empowerment of every Indian perfectly fits with the persona of the ‘Common Man’”.

Capt. Gopinath, Managing Director Air Deccan said, ”The ‘Common Man’ and Air Deccan share a commonality .. they are both ‘for the people, by the people‘, that’s where stemmed the idea of approaching Mr. Laxman . Mr. R.K Laxman does not part very easily with his ‘Common Man’ and has indeed honoured us by allowing us to use the ‘Common Man’ as our ambassador for the airline. Going forward, we believe that what will drive us is very simple: It is not what the common man can do for us but rather what Air Deccan can do for the ‘common man’.”

Mr R.K Laxman also suggested to Captain Gopinath that he should introduce fares beginning with Re 1. Captain Gopinath replied stating that he would definitely explore the possibility.

Is he our mascot? Is he our Icon? No. He is the embodiment of the spirit of Air Deccan. He represents what we stand for because he represents the sentiment of the people. And he will be used very much in character. He will be witness to the revolution in air travel in India and he will be witness to the “People” of this country taking to the skies.

We’ve delivered our promise of “everyone can fly” and are well on our way to truly becoming ‘The people’s airline.
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