"THE AIR DECCAN CHALLENGE — Lowest airfares, or a free ticket. Fares start at Re 1(*)" Remember the ad? Probably not. The Air Deccan ad from the early 2000s captured the audacity of India's first low-cost airline at a time when Indian skies were ruled by full-service giants—Air India, Indian Airlines, Jet Airways and Kingfisher. While others looked up to Lufthansa, Emirates and Qantas, Air Deccan's founder, Captain GR Gopinath, looked to Ryanair, the Irish airline long the butt of jokes. From launching India's first budget carrier in 2003 to selling it to Kingfisher in 2008, then relaunching in 2017 and fading again, Gopinath once alleged that IndiGo's parent "InterGlobe [Aviation] sabotaged" India's first no-frills carrier. And the blow chipped away Air Deccan's wings.

Captain Gopinath a

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