International Kingfisher flights to be cancelled from Mar 25

New Delhi, Mar 20: Kingfisher will not operate any international flights from Mar 25, sources reported on Tuesday, Mar 20. Vijay Mallya on Tuesday, Mar 20 met Bharat Bhushan, Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

According to sources, Kingfisher Airlines will operate its last international flight from Delhi to London on Apr 10. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) mulled cancellation of Kingfisher's flying permit after the airline submitted to it the summer flight schedule with 15 to 16 aircraft as against 28 planes submitted last month. "The airline not only lacks aircraft, they also lack funds for day-to-day operations. They are failing to meet their flight schedule, causing inconvenience to the passengers and also they failed to give salaries to their employees for past four-five months," official sources said.

The sources said Kingfisher may be planning a quite shut down and Mallya being an "accountable" person has been asked to meet the DGCA to present a clear picture. The whole picture is likely to become clear in few days, the officials said.

The beleaguered airline was served a show-cause notice by the Civil Aviation regulator DGCA towards the end of February asking why its licence should not be suspended as it had made unannounced cancellations. The 15-day mandatory notice period has already lapsed and they have failed to give a valid reason for curtailment of their flight schedule, most of their explanations are unsatisfactory and they have not given a definite recovery plan, officials said, adding the airline is presently operating only 15 or 16 aircraft.

Facing severe fund crunch, Vijay Mallya-promoted airline has decided to curtail its overseas flights operations to avoid further losses and also return of a leased aircraft. According to sources, the airline has planned to suspend its overseas operations from Mar 25, except Delhi-London which it is withdrawing from Apr 9. Also the airline would return its wide body airbus A 330-200 aircraft to a lessor in the United Kingdom.

OneIndia News