 |
G. R. | |
|---|---|
 G. R. Gopinath, left, 2010 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 13 November 1951 [1] Gorur, Mysore State At present Karnataka State. India |
| Alma mater | |
| Known for | Founder of Air Deccan |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  India |
| Rank |  Captain |
Captain Gorur Ramaswamy Iyengar Gopinath (born 13 November 1951) [2] [3] is an Indian entrepreneur, [4] the founder of Air Deccan, a retired Captain of the Indian Army, an author and a politician. [1] [5] [6]
Gopinath was born in Gorur, Hassan, in a Tamil family and was brought up in small village in Gorur in the Hassan district of Karnataka State. [1]
Gopinath's father Gorur Ramaswamy Iyengar, a school teacher (not to be confused with Kannada Novelist Gorur Ramaswamy Iyengar who is his mother's uncle), believed that schools were systems of regimentation and was resolved to teach Gopinath at home.
However, Gopinath was admitted to a Kannada medium school quite late and straight away he joined Standard V. In 1962, Gopinath cleared the admission test and joined Sainik School, Bijapur. The school helped and prepared Gopinath to clear the NDA entrance exams.
After 3 years of vigorous training, Gopinath completed education from the National Defence Academy, Pune. He then went on to graduate from the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun. [1]
After school, he earned a commission in the Indian Army, earning the rank of Captain. He spent eight years in the army and fought in the 1971-72 Bangladesh Liberation War.[ citation needed ][ failed verification ]
The army life seemed to somehow tie him down. He took early retirement from Indian Army, at the age of 28. Upon retirement from the armed forces, he established an ecologically sustainable sericulture farm; his innovative methods earned him the Rolex Laureate Award in 1996. [1] Next, he started the Malnad Mobikes (Enfield dealership) and opened a hotel in Hassan. [7]
In 1997 he co-founded Deccan Aviation, a charter helicopter service with his two friends, who were also in air force. In 2003, Gopinath founded Air Deccan, a low cost airline; Air Deccan merged with Kingfisher Airlines in 2007. In 2009 he founded Deccan 360, a freight flight business. In July 2013, Deccan 360 was ordered to wind up by the Karnataka High Court order based on petitions filed by Dubai-based United Aviation Services (UAS) and another by M/s Patel Integrated Logistics (PIL) Pvt. Ltd. — seeking recovery of amounts due to them by winding up the company. [8]
In May 2006, he was knighted with "Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur" the civilian award conferred by the French Government. He has received many awards for Air Deccan. [1]
In 2009, Gopinath contested as an independent candidate in Bangalore South constituency at the Lok Sabha elections but was defeated.
In 2014, he unsuccessfully contested Lok Sabha elections on the ticket of the Aam Aadmi Party. [9]
Gopinath moved to Bengaluru in 1992 where he bumped into Captain K.J. Samuel, who was his friend in the army. Samuel was a freelance pilot and was planning to set-up a commercial Helicopter service. In 1995, when the Indian government started a regulatory reforms process to encourage entrepreneurship, Gopinath partnered with Samuel and established Deccan Aviation. [1] Deccan's helicopters were chartered by most politicians and the company also got involved in many rescue missions in Sri Lanka, Nepal, Kabul and South India. The Company grew to become one of the largest private air charter companies in India and Sri Lanka. [10]
Inspired by the success of Southwest Airlines in the United States and Ryanair in Europe, Deccan Aviation launched India's first low-cost airline, Air Deccan in 2003. [11] Deccan Aviation went public in May 2006, [12] however by then the airline was losing money. [13] The following year, the Vijay Mallya lead UB group purchased a strategic 26 per cent stake in Deccan Aviation. [14] At the time of purchase, Air Deccan connected sixty nine cities around India. [1] Mallya merged the two airlines soon after [15] and Capt. Gopinath sold most of his stake in the company in 2009. [16]
During the merger process of Kingfisher with Air Deccan, the Charter services division of Deccan Aviation was transferred into a new company named Deccan Charters Limited after it received its Non-Scheduled Air Operator Permit (NSOP) from the DGCA on 10 October 2008. During that period, the Charter operations continued to perform satisfactorily and increased its presence in off shore flying for the oil sector. [17]
Gopinath used the money from the UB Group deal to start Deccan 360, a cargo airline, in May 2009. But that enterprise too was squeezed by a severe cash crunch and shut shop in 2011. The same year, Gopinath became the 100% owner of Deccan Charters by purchasing the stake Mallya held in the company as part of the 2007 deal. [18] The following year, Gopinath launched daily charter flights in the state of Gujarat under the brand name of Deccan Shuttles. The flights connected Ahmedabad, Surat, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar and Kandla using a nine-seater Cessna Grand Caravan aircraft. [19] The service wound up in 2013. In April 2017, Deccan charters bid for and won 34 regional Indian routes under the UDAN scheme. [20] Operating under the brand name Air Deccan, it will commence operations in December 2017 with flights between Mumbai and Nashik.[ needs update ] Air Deccan will operate 19-seater Beechcraft 1900D turboprop aircraft that are suitable for short-haul flights. The airline has plans to connect Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Shillong to regional towns in the vicinity of these cities. [21]
The 2020 Indian Tamil-language film Soorarai Pottru was partly inspired by events from the life of Gopinath and is based on his memoir Simply Fly: A Deccan Odyssey. [25]
HAL Airport is an airport that serves Bangalore, the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Located about 12 km east of the city centre, it has one runway and operates 24/7. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), a state-owned defence company, owns the airfield and runs a testing facility in conjunction with the Indian Armed Forces. The airport also caters to non-scheduled civilian traffic, including general, business and VIP aviation. For over 60 years, it received all domestic and international flights to the city; the Airports Authority of India shut down its civil enclave, officially known as "Bangalore International Airport", upon the opening of the Kempegowda International Airport in Devanahalli in 2008.
Kingfisher Airlines Limited was an airline group based in India. It was established in 2003 and started its commercial operations in 2005. Through its parent company United Breweries Group, it had a 50% stake in low-cost carrier Kingfisher Red.
United Breweries Holdings Limited (UBHL), also called UB Group, is the Indian subsidiary of Heineken N.V.. Is headquartered in UB City, Bangalore, Karnataka. Its core business includes beverages and investments in various sectors. The company markets beer under the Kingfisher brand, and owns various other brands of alcoholic beverages. United Breweries is India's largest producer of beer.
Deccan Charters is an aviation company based in Bengaluru, India that operates helicopter and fixed-wing charter services. Its main base is HAL Bangalore International Airport. Deccan Technical Services, the maintenance unit of Deccan Charters, maintains helicopters on behalf of 50 Indian corporates such as Reliance Industries and Essar Group. Their Mumbai centre is the authorised customer service centre to support Sikorsky S-76 helicopters. In March 2017, the firm bagged 21 regional air routes under the Indian Government's regional connectivity scheme, UDAN.
Kempegowda International Airport is an international airport serving Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka, India. Spread over 4,000 acres (1,600 ha), it is located about 30 kilometres (19 mi) north of the city near the suburb of Devanahalli. It is owned and operated by Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL), a public–private consortium. The airport opened in May 2008 as an alternative to increased congestion at HAL Airport, the original primary commercial airport serving the city. It is named after Kempe Gowda I, the founder of Bangalore. Kempegowda International Airport became Karnataka's first fully solar powered airport, developed by CleanMax Solar.
Sri Sathya Sai Airport is located at Puttaparthi in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. The airport is named after Sathya Sai Baba, a spiritual guru and philanthropist. It is a small airport with facilities for chartered flights rather than commercial aircraft. The airport was inaugurated in 1990 to serve the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences during emergency situations. The airport's 1000-metre-long airstrip and terminal building were constructed by L&T ECC. The runway was later extended to enable the operation of larger jet aircraft.
Mysore Airport, also known as Mandakalli Airport, is a domestic airport serving Mysore in Karnataka, India. It is located eight kilometres (5 mi) south of the city in the village of Mandakalli and is owned and operated by the Airports Authority of India. The Princely State of Mysore constructed it in 1940. The airport was later refurbished and inaugurated in May 2010. At present, it has direct flights to Chennai, Goa, and Hyderabad.
Belgaum Airport, also known as Belagavi Airport, is a domestic airport serving Belgaum, Karnataka. The current integrated terminal building was inaugurated by the then Minister of Civil Aviation, Ashok Gajapathi Raju on 14 September 2017. Near the airport, there is an Indian Air Force station, where new recruits receive basic training.
Bellary Airport is an airport serving Bellary, a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. It was once served by Tata Airlines and Vayudoot. Bellary was a part of the first commercial flight of India which was from Karachi to Madras, flown by J.R.D Tata on 15 October 1932. This is the first airport of Karnataka built as early as 1932. However, as of May 2018, the airport is without commercial air service. Jindal Vijaynagar Airport, located about 36 kilometres (22 mi) west of the city, is used instead for this purpose. A new airport for Bellary is being planned as well.
Simplifly Deccan, formerly known as Air Deccan, was the first Indian low-cost carrier. Headquartered in Bengaluru, it operated domestic flights from seven base airports using a fleet of Airbus A320, ATR 42 and ATR 72 aircraft. The airline appealed to middle class travellers with low fares and a large route network. It employed several innovative methods to ensure the profitability of its business model. Nevertheless, Simplifly Deccan merged with Kingfisher Airlines in April 2008. Kingfisher replaced the Deccan brand with Kingfisher Red in August 2008.
Jindal Vijaynagar Airport is a regional airport serving the cities of Vidyanagar, Hosapete and Ballari in Karnataka, India. Because of its location, it is also known as Vidyanagar Airport. It is owned and operated by JSW Steel, which operates a steel mill in Toranagallu. The name Jindal Vijaynagar comes from the company Jindal Vijaynagar Steel Ltd (JVSL), which merged to form JSW Steel in 2005.
Deccan 360 also known as Deccan Cargo & Express Logistics was a cargo airline based in Bangalore, India.
Vijay Vittal Mallya is an Indian fugitive former businessman and politician. He is the subject of an extradition effort by the Indian Government to return him from the UK to face charges of financial crimes in India.
Kingfisher Airlines was established in 2003 and ceased operations when its license was cancelled on 20 October 2012. It is owned by the Bengaluru based United Breweries Group. The airline started commercial operations on 9 May 2005 with a fleet of four new Airbus A320-200s operating a flight from Mumbai to Delhi. It started its international operations on 3 September 2008 by connecting Bengaluru with London. Kingfisher's head office is located in Kingfisher House Western Express Highway Vile Parle (E) Mumbai – 400099 India and its registered office is located in UB City, Bangalore. Its head office was previously in the Kingfisher House in Vile Parle (East), Mumbai. In 2012 Vijay Mallya was trying to sell the Vile Parle Kingfisher House. The airline had shut down its operations when on 20 October 2012 the DGCA suspended its flying license. This suspension had been due to failure to give an effective response to the show-cause notice issued by DGCA. However, The airline had locked out its employees for several days before this suspension. On 25 October 2012, the employees agreed to return to work. On 7 June 2010 Kingfisher became a member elect of the Oneworld airline alliance when it signed a formal membership agreement. Kingfisher confirmed on 20 December 2011 that it will join the Oneworld airline alliance on 10 February 2012. Kingfisher would have been the first Indian carrier to join one of the big airline alliances. However, on 3 February 2012, owing to bad financial situation and two days after the International Air Transport Association (IATA) clearing house suspended Kingfisher Airlines; the airlines participation to Oneworld has been put on hold.
TruJet was an Indian regional airline based at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad. The airline commenced operations in July 2015 and ceased all operations in February 2022. This is not to be confused with TruJet Media International which is based in London, England.
Air Carnival was an Indian regional airline based at Coimbatore International Airport with a hub at Chennai International Airport. Air Carnival was promoted by the Coimbatore Marine College (CMC) Group. It was founded in 2013 as a charter airline but transitioned to scheduled operations within South India, which were launched in July 2016.
Air Pegasus was an Indian regional airline headquartered in Bangalore and based at Kempegowda International Airport. The airline was a subsidiary of Decor Aviation, an aircraft ground-handling services company. It commenced operations on 12 April 2015 with its inaugural flight between Bangalore and Hubli. The airline suspended operations on 27 July 2016, facing financial difficulties. At that time, Air Pegasus was serving eight airports across South India with a hub at Kempegowda International Airport in Bangalore, using a fleet of three ATR 72-500 aircraft. Their flying licence was suspended by DGCA on 22 November 2016. Managing director Shyson Thomas stated in late 2017 that Air Pegasus would return to the skies in early 2018, as the company had formed a relationship with Dawn Aviation and was about to settle all of its debts. Several cases have been filed against Air Pegasus chairman Shyson Thomas, Shyna Thomas and son Ashwin Thomas who was managing director. Till date no debts have been cleared and Air Pegasus office has been vacated from its MG road address.
Civil aviation in India, the world's third-largest civil aviation market as of 2020, traces its origin back to 1911, when the first commercial civil aviation flight took off from a polo ground in Allahabad carrying mail across the Yamuna river to Naini.
Gorur is a small village in Hassan district of Karnataka state in India.
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