Once through, all these moves will see more than four-fifths of the Indian passenger aviation market consolidated in the hands of three major players.

As for the UB-Air Deccan deal, Vijay Mallya led United Breweries (Holdings) pays out Rs550 crore for a 26 per cent stake in Deccan Aviation Ltd, the holding company for Air Deccan, along with the right to bid for another 20 per cent at a later stage. United Breweries has paid Rs155 for each of Deccan Aviation's shares, which is 6% more than its Rs146.20 closing price on Thursday.

Edelweiss Capital were the advisors to the transaction and had been mandated by Air Deccan six months back to raise additional capital/funds to fund its growth plans.

Air Deccan currently operates with a fleet of 43 planes and holds a 22% market share in terms of passengers carried. Kingfisher Airlines, with a passenger share of 11% in the market, will now take the combined share of the two carriers to 33% of the domestic market, just ahead of the Jet Airways (22%) and Air Sahara (9%) combine, based on April figures.

As for synergies, Kingfisher and Air Deccan will now be able to access ground infrastructure at 65 airports, of which more than 28 are common to both the set ups. On the most lucrative of routes, New Delhi-Mumbai, that on its own accounts for more than half of India's 33 million passenger traffic, the two carriers will now account for a total of 155 flights. The new entity will have over 71 aircraft.

Beginning operations in 2003, Air Deccan operates 350 flights daily to 65 destinations countrywide. The airline currently operates a band new fleet of 19 Airbus A320 aircraft, with an average age of 1.5 years and 24 ATR turboprop aircraft.

Speaking about the deal, Capt GR Gopinath, managing director, Air Deccan said, "UB was preferred over other interested investors, due to the inherent synergies existing in Air Deccan and UB owned Kingfisher Airlines. Air Deccan would continue to operate as an independent airline with increased focus on the low cost business model. With commonality of fleet, we foresee sharing of infrastructure, resources and best practices between both the airlines. This would definitely lead to decreased costs, maximizing shareholder value, increased efficiencies and improved profitability."

As part of the new dispensation, Capt GR Gopinath would be taking over as the executive chairman, while Dr Vijay Mallya would be the vice-chairman. Kingfisher Airlines and Air Deccan have also said that they will henceforth work very closely together to exploit the significant synergies that exist in the areas of operations and maintenance, ground handling, vastly increased connectivity, feeder services, distribution penetration etc.

Warwick Brady, COO, Air Deccan, after having completed two years with the airline, has decided to move on and a new officer will be appointed in his place shortly. Ramki Sundaram, the CFO of Air Deccan, will serve as the officiating CEO with immediate effect.