KINGFISHER Airlines is making an attempt at a comeback, having submitted a plan to India’s civil aviation authority to restart operations.
According to The Wall Street Journal and BBC, the carrier’s new plan will see Kingfisher parent UB Group fork out Rs6.5 billion (US$119 million) to revive Kingfisher.
The carrier intends to start flights with five Airbus A320 jets and two ATR turboprops, before growing its fleet to 20 aircraft later on.
Kingfisher CEO, Sanjay Aggarwal, was quoted as saying that the airline had submitted a plan to the director general of civil aviation, Arun Mishra, including a proposed flight schedule, number of staff and a request for the airline’s flight licence to be renewed.
Kingfisher had lost its air operator’s certificate after the debt-laden carrier failed to meet the Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s concerns about its operations (TTG Asia e-Daily, October 22, 2012 – http://ttgasia.com/2012/10/22/kingfisher-loses-licence-to-fly/).
BBC reported that Kingfisher had entered talks with Etihad Airways and other investors in recent times in the hopes of earning fresh capital by having them take a stake in the carrier.
A senior aviation ministry official quoted by The Wall Street Journal said that Kingfisher has also submitted letters from parts suppliers, fuel companies, aircraft leasing companies and India’s private airport operators in a bid to regain its licence, but has not managed to secure no-objection letters from tax authorities and the state-run Airports Authority of India.
