Indian tycoon defies credit crunch with five-star airline launch

India's most flamboyant tycoon will bring his airline to Britain this week in defiance of the credit crunch.

As airlines fold and fuel prices soar, Vijay Mallya has secured a coveted slot at Heathrow for his Kingfisher Airlines which, from tomorrow, will operate daily fights to India's IT hub, Bangalore.

From October, the airline will also operate daily flights to Mumbai.

Mr Mallya says Kingfisher offers a business class service superior to Virgin and BA. Speaking at Heathrow today, he said: "We're Harrods in the sky and, economic downturn or not, people with money to spend will not stop going to Harrods."

With this in mind he is confident Kingfisher can lure business travellers away from some of the more established airlines.

"We've always focused on delivering superior value - a full-blown first-class experience at a businessclass fare.

"It follows the same business model as Virgin Upper Class but our Kingfisher First is more luxurious than Virgin Upper Class. With in-flight dining out of London we have catering from Amaya and Chutney Mary - some of the most awarded Indian restaurants in the UK. We've spared no effort. But let's be clear, we don't discount, our fares are full fares."

Mr Mallya, 52, who has been dubbed "India's Richard Branson", added that the current difficulties faced by other airlines were of little concern to him.

"International air travel in and out of India is growing at over 20 per cent. The situation is that 70per cent of India's total international travel is in the hands of foreign airlines and we want that to change."

Mr Mallya, who made his name as the chairman of Indian alcohol giant United Breweries also owns India's first Formula One team, Force India, and the richest cricket team in the country's 20-20 league - the Bangalore Royal Challengers. Last year he caused a stir when he bought the Scottish whisky giant Whyte and Mackay for £595 million.

But it is since launching Kingfisher Airlines in 2005, that he has attracted most adverse attention. The airline took off amidst a major publicity blitz, with Mr Mallya promising passengers a unique experience.

He called his glamourous flight attendants "flying models" and promising to hold in-flight beauty pageants, much to the disgust of India's feminist groups.

He said: "I disagree with anybody who doesn't want to see a pretty lady. I don't know anyone who would prefer an ordinary looking lady.

"We have several air hostesses who are attractive enough to be models and are in fact models. We have strict parameters and requirements regarding weight and height. We go into psychometric testing and see whether they are service orientated - not every pretty girl is service orientated."

Despite the upsets Mr Mallya has accumulated a vast personal fortune. The father of three is ranked 476 in Fortune's list of the world's wealthiest people and he has 26 homes around the world and a fleet of 260 vintage cars.