Kingfisher Airlines submits revival plan to regulator, seeks nod to fly again
Grounded Kingfisher Airlines has submitted a plan to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to restart operations, asking for its licence to be renewed with the help of funds from its parent UB Group, its chief executive said on Wednesday.
"We have given a complete plan...which includes our schedule that we plan to operate, the aircraft we plan to operate, the number of people we have," Sanjay Aggarwal said.
"We have requested that our licence be renewed," he said, adding that the carrier plans to start operations with seven planes - 5 Airbus planes and 2 ATRs.
The airline has been grounded since October 2012 following unrest by employees and a subsequent disruption in its flight schedules. Its flying licence was suspended in December, and the airline has two years to get it renewed.
The DGCA had sought a written commitment from the promoters of the airline that additional funds for the airline will be infused by the parent company.
The fund transfer from United Spirits to Kingfisher Airlines is on track with the Competition Commission of India having cleared the sale of a stake in the Indian liquor company to Diageo, UB Goup chairman Vijay Mallya said last month.
In February this year, lenders to the airline decided to start recalling their loans to Kingfisher, following which parent UB Group said it is in talks with the lenders to cut their exposure by using the proceeds from the stake sale in United Spirits, also a UB Group company, to Diageo for $2.1 billion (Rs. 11,451.43 crore). The deal was announced in November 2012.
Earlier this month, a spokesperson for the airline said it had paid salaries for June and July 2012.
Kingfisher Airlines reported a net loss of Rs. 755.17 crore for the third quarter ending December 31, a period in which it did not operate a single flight. The airline also did not report any revenue for the quarter as against Rs. 1,367.71 crore in the year-ago period.
With inputs from Reuters
