DECCAN 360, Captain Gopinath's dedicated air cargo venture has been launched on Wednesday (November 4), in Nagpur. The Captain, who had pioneered low-cost flying in India will with Air Deccan has invested 125 crore in Deccan Express, an air cargo transportation company.

Deccan 360 will hire 5000 people in the next five years and initially the company plans to appoint 100 franchisees. The company fleet comprises three Airbus A310 planes, seven ATR planes and it plans to connect 17 Indian cities to begin with.

The company has also tied up with GMR Group to set up operations in Delhi and Hyderabad airports, but Nagpur will serve as the main hub. Deccan Express will compete with established players such First Flight, Blue Dart and Gati in air cargo business, which is expected to grow substantially year on year.

Captain Gopinath is known for coming out with low cost solutions for airlines industry and it remains to be seen if he brings down the cost for the customers in this business as well.