Cash-strapped Kingfisher airlines grounds 15 planes

New Delhi, Dec 19: The cash-starved Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher Airlines has grounded 15 aircraft as it was unable to meet maintenance and overhaul expenses of the planes.

Report published in The Economic Times said that "the airline had grounded 15 of its planes but did not say how long they had been grounded or why." Report futher claimed that more than 50 pilots are left the carrier last week due to the ongoing financial crisis.

Meanwhile, report also claimed that the State Bank of India, which heads the consortium of Kingfisher's lenders said that banks are trying to help troubled country's second-largest private airlines.

Beleaguered Kingfisher Airlines has been facing mounting losses since a few months. The airlines has also received notices from airports, lenders and fuel suppliers for defaulting payments and have stopped extending credit to the airline.

Earlier, few months back the airline had announced the closure of its low-fares operation, Kingfisher Red, to concentrate on full-fare services. Meanwhile, Sahara India Chief Subrata Roy has decided to bail out cash-strapped Vijay Mally's Kingfisher Airlines with a loan of Rs 250 crore but officials from Sahara India declined to comment on the issue.

OneIndia News