Hyderabad, Mar 13 (UNI) Budget airliner Air Deccan today announced that it is holding talks with SAIL and TISCO to leverage private airstrips as it is planning to expand services to ten new cities and towns over the next few months.

The carrier planned that it would access SAIL's airstrip at Rourkela and TISCO's Jamshedpur airfield to extend its operation in the East.

Its plans also included bringing into the network Dharmashala, the Dalai Lama's camp, and Shimla in Himachal Pradesh, along with Salem in Tamil Nadu over the next few months, Company's Principal Sales and Marketing Officer Samyukth Sridharan said.

The airline also announced the launch of daily flights linking Hyderabad to Bhubaneswar (via Delhi) and Vizag to Bhubaneswar from March 26.

This would be the first time that Air Deccan would be providing air connectivity to Vizag and Bhubaneswar for which a 48-seater ATR-42 aircraft would be deployed.

A brand new 180 seater Airbus A-320 aircraft would be deployed for its new flight connecting Hyderabad and Bhubaneswar (via Delhi).

The airline ordered for 62 Airbus and 30 ATR aircrafts, expecting to add 12-15 per cent new air travellers a year.

UNI