Kingfisher makes further flight cuts
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Kingfisher Airlines has further curtailed its domestic operations by reducing its operating fleet size to 20 aircraft. The airline, which was operating over 400 daily flights with 64 aircraft in its winter schedule, slashed this to 170 flights with 28 aircraft last month. On Sunday (18 March), operations were reduced to 130 daily flights.
Vijay Mallya, Chairman of Kingfisher Airlines met the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) yesterday to give an update on the present situation of the airline. “We are not going with any ambitious target. We will be operating flights with 20 aircraft. There would be no disruptions and schedule integrity will be maintained,” Mallya was quoted as saying by PTI.
The airline will also suspend all international flights from 25 March. “We have decided to suspend our international operations as we are not on IATA platforms. So…there is no sense flying abroad,” Mallya said.
The DGCA said the authorities had no plans to cancel the flying license of Kingfisher Airlines and that the carrier had a revival strategy. DGCA Chief Bharat Bhushan stated; “As of date, there are no plans to cancel the (Kingfisher) license. There is no cause for panic and no deadline has been imposed on them. Our field officers will monitor the situation as it evolves.”
The comments came after Civil Aviation Minister, Ajit Singh told reporters that “if required, the license can be cancelled as passenger safety is a top priority”.