BackKingfisher CEO seeks govt’s assurance on airport slots
Airline seeks ministry’s view on status of its licence, wants slots at Mumbai airport when it restarts operations
Premium(Hindustan Times)
New Delhi: Kingfisher Airlines Ltd CEO Sanjay Aggarwal met officials of the aviation ministry and the regulator in New Delhi on Thursday to drum up support for the carrier, grounded since 1 October, as it seeks to resume flights.
“I just wanted to brief him where we are. Just to make sure we have checked all the boxes to get our AOP (air operator permit) back to restart operations. We want to make sure we are on the same page," Aggarwal said in an interview after meeting civil aviation secretary K.N. Srivastava and director general of civil aviation Arun Mishra.
The Vijay Mallya-promoted Kingfisher Airlines hasn’t flown after employees stopped working on account of unpaid salaries. Its AOP lapsed in December. The revival plan involves a resumption of flights with five Airbus A320s and two ATRs, rising in three-four months to 11 planes, Aggarwal said.
Kingfisher sought reassurances from the ministry that it be allotted some slots at the Mumbai airport when it restarts operations, according to a civil aviation ministry official who declined to be named
Some of its slots have been given to rivals as they weren’t being used. The airline said it hopes to pay salaries and clear dues to vendors. It has also sought the ministry’s view on the status of the airline’s licence.
The ministry had decided to give away most of Kingfisher’s airport slots and bilaterals to other airlines as they have been unused since October.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation or DGCA has said it won’t renew Kingfisher’s licence till it pays vendors and employees.
The airline has the highest debt amongst Indian carriers after state-run Air India.
Aggarwal told DGCA it will be getting “NOCs (no-objection certificates) from leasing companies, oil companies, airports, (and on) employee salaries." The ministry official cited above said Aggarwal expects salaries for six months to be paid and service tax attachments to be resolved shortly as money comes in from the sale of a stake in group company United Spirits Ltd (USL) to Diageo Plc.
On 9 November, Diageo, the world’s largest distiller by revenue, agreed to buy a majority stake in USL for a total consideration of ₹ 11,166.5 crore.
Kingfisher still has about 3,000 employees who haven’t been paid for eight months. Its salary bill for a month is about ₹ 20 crore at least, according to an official who didn’t want to be named.
Kingfisher will write to DGCA on the protection of its Mumbai slots.
DGCA has not taken a view on renewing the licence or its slots, said the ministry official cited above.
Mallya met finance minister P. Chidambaram earlier this month, but a second aviation ministry official said he was not optimistic about the carrier’s chances of revival given that banks are unlikely to extend further credit and have, in fact, recalled loans made to the carrier as they seek to recover more than ₹ 7,500 crore.
The aviation ministry will not renew the airline’s licence till all NOCs (no objection certificates) are obtained, the official quoted above said.
Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
