Mallya rethinks overseas plans

Mumbai: Two months before its maiden overseas flight was to take off, billionaire Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher Airlines has decided to rethink its whole strategy of flying abroad.
The airline was scheduled to launch its international operations with a Bangalore-San Francisco service on August 27. Now, informed sources said, the airline is re-evaluating whether it should launch the service or defer it for a few months. A final decision will be taken in a day or two.
The inaugural flight to San Francisco was to be followed with flights to other destinations like New York, London and cities in South-East Asia. It is now learnt that Kingfisher Airlines has decided to put on hold its plan to fly directly to New York later this year.
The sources said that the sharp rise in aviation turbine fuel prices, the slowdown in international travel and the uncertainty in the aviation market (many US carriers have gone bankrupt) have impacted Kingfisher Airlines' overseas plans.
What makes it ironical is that Mallya had lobbied hard in New Delhi to get the norms for flying abroad relaxed so that his brand new airline could launch international flights.
While the government rules stipulated that an airline needs to have five years of domestic experience before it can mount overseas flights, Mallya wanted it to be cut to three.
28/06/08 Manisha Singhal/Business Standard

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Deccan Jun 2008, Kingfisher Jun 2008